The  Moral  Education 
of  School  Children 


CHARLES   KEEN   TAYLOR 


The  Moral  Education 

of 

School  Children 


By 

CHARLES  KEEN  TAYLOR,  M.A. 

Assistant  in  Psychology,  University  of  Pennsylvania ;  Chairman  of  the  Moral  and  Social 
Education  Committee  of  the  Home  and  School  League  of  Philadelphia 


Preface  by 

ARTHUR  HOLMES,  PH.D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  Psychology,  University  of  Pennsylvania 


Printed  for 

C.  H.  &  H.  3B. 

Mermaid  Lane  and  Navahoe  Street,  St.  Martin's,  Phila.,  Pa. 


','•  •      »  •"   !•/'.''•     :  : 
•  j '  •     •••••>     °>'*    >  j     •>.»>     j 


LCil 


Copyright  in  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Great  Britaii 
By  C.  K.  &  H.  B.  TAYLOR 


TO 

Br.  Martin  4£.  Jirumiraugft 

Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THIS  BOOK  IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED 


PREFACE 

THE  interest  in  physiological  education 
has  been  one  of  long  development  and 
worthy  history.  The  wave  of  emphasis 
upon  the  body  of  the  human  being,  in  contradis- 
tinction from  his  soul,  has  been  a  growing  one 
since  the  seventeenth  century  and,  as  yet,  has  not 
reached  its  crest.  Coupled  with  this  growing 
emphasis  has  come  the  attention  to  the  individual, 
and  these  two  tendencies  in  education  developing 
part  passu  have  been  the  principal  ones  acting  in 
nearly  all  the  great  educational  movements  of 
modern  times.  The  concrete  illustration  of  the 
transformation  of  the  little  red  school  house  on 
the  hill  into  the  modern  pedagogical  organization, 
with  its  dozen  or  more  allied  institutions,  serves 
to  focus  and  visualize  these  abstract  principles. 

The  thought  that  the  mind  could  be  best 
reached  through  the  body  has  been  carried  from 
the  realm  of  intellectual  training  into  the  moral 
realm.  This  idea  is  more  novel  and  hence  less 
developed  in  practice,  but  it  promises  as  much  in 
the  moral  sphere  as  it  has  already  accomplished 
in  the  intellectual  world.  Already  we  have 
accepted  the  working  principle  that  "  a  bad  body 


makes  a  bad  boy,"  and  conversely,  "a  good  body 
makes  a  good  boy." 

This  little  book  is  one  expression  of  this 
general  movement.  It  is  an  attempt  to  work  out 
this  new  and  great  problem,  and,  as  such,  it  occu- 
pies a  unique  place  in  the  development  of  moral 
training.  The  author  has  already  had  experience 
in  the  things  which  he  tells  about  on  his  pages. 
The  book,  therefore,  is  not  born  out  of  a  priori 
conceptions,  but  is  wrought  of  living  experience 
with  real  boys. 

A.  HOLMES. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE 5 

By  ARTHUR  HOLMES,  PH.D. 

PART  I 

What   is   Meant   by    Moral  Education.     Why   the   Schools 
Should  Consider  it 9 

PART  II 

A  Moral  Education  Schedule,  for  Use  in  Schools,  Designed 

for  Children  of  from  Six  to  Fifteen  Years  of  Age,  Inclusive  .      37 

PART  III 

The  School  and  the  Working  Child 61 

APPENDIX 

Games,  Plays  and  Reading  for  Children  of  Different  Ages  .   .      72 


THE  MORAL  EDUCATION 
OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN 


PART  I 

A -THOUGH,  at  this  time,  there  seems  to  be 
a  general  feeling  that  the  schools  should 
interest  themselves  more  directly  in  the 
moral  training  and  instruction  of  children,  there 
seems  to  be  no  settled  opinion  as  to  WHY  the 
schools  particularly  should  consider  such  prob- 
lems, or  WHAT  special  moral  questions  they 
should  notice,  or  HOW  they  may  take  up  such 
matters  most  effectively.  For  this  reason,  before 
we  can  study  intelligently  any  plan  for  a  regular 
school  program  for  moral  instruction  and  training, 
we  may  do  well  to  consider  the  various  reasons 
why  the  schools  should  have  such  a  program  at 
all,  and  of  what  main  topics  this  program  should 
consist.  This  done,  we  will  be  better  able  to 
approach  the  very  difficult  problem  of  the  "  ways 
and  means." 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  realize  that  there 
has  been  a  great  change  in  the  mutual  relations 
of  the  school,  the  church  and  the  home,  especially 


as  far  as  the  training  of  children  is  concerned. 
For  instance,  but  lately  it  was  thought  to  be  the 
sole  duty  of  the  school  to  give  its  pupils  a  working 
knowledge  of  the  "three  R's,"  and  little  else. 
Outside  of  this,  the  school  was  supposed  to  have 
little  concern  regarding  the  welfare  of  the  child, 
particularly  the  physical  and  moral  welfare.  True 
it  is,  the  school  often  made  much  of  manners  and 
discipline,  doubtless  with  good  results,  but  it  would 
have  been  considered  worse  than  an  impertinence 
had  the  schools,  and  particularly  the  public  schools, 
made  it  a  point  to  look  out  for  the  physical  well- 
being  of  their  charges,  or  had  they  even  suggested 
aiding  more  directly  in  the  real  moral  develop- 
ment of  each  child. 

The  church  once  played  a  considerable  part 
in  the  moral  development  of  the  child;  not 
directly,  to  be  sure,  but  indirectly  through  the  hold 
it  had  upon  the  parents.  But  with  the  losing  of 
its  hold,  in  some  measure,  with  the  parents,  the 
church  has  realized  that  its  influence  upon  the 
child  is  not  what  it  once  was,  and  not  at  all  what 
it  should  be.  Therefore  the  Sunday  school  was 
developed  to  meet  this  need,  and  though  it  has 
done  some  measure  of  good  work,  still  it  has 
failed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  times,  largely, 
perhaps,  because  it  is  rather  inclined  to  imprac- 
ticality,  and  to  confine  its  teaching  to  platitudes, 
with  insufficient  attention  to  the  present,  caused 

10 


by  an  unaltering  attention  to  the  past.  There  is 
a  time  in  the  life  of  a  child  when  history  makes  a 
strong  appeal,  but  this  time  comes  in  what  may  be 
called  the  early  "high  school"  age,  and  boys  of 
high  school  age  are  not  flocking  to  the  Sunday 
schools — at  least  not  in  conspicuous  numbers. 

The  Sunday  schools,  to  put  it  briefly,  hardly 
touch  the  surface  of  the  needs  of  modern  boys 
and  girls.  I  do  not  deny  the  devotedness  of  the 
500,000  of  volunteer  teachers,  but  by  how  many 
of  them  are  children  taught  the  basic  principles 
of  right  living — taught  with  a  working  knowledge 
of  a  child's  viewpoint,  characteristics  and  needs  ? 
Where  are  they  given  the  fundamental  principles 
of  a  practical  morality,  and  not  of  a  pale,  bloodless, 
theoretical  morality,  which  is  almost  valueless 
when  the  average  child's  temptations  are  con- 
sidered ?  It  is  true  that  the  teaching  of  a  practical 
morality  in  a  Sunday  school  would  be  a  difficult 
matter,  the  teachers  would  be  at  a  loss  in 
endeavoring  to  decide  what  to  present  and  how 
to  present  it.  The  introduction  of  such  a  course, 
too,  would  be  accompanied  with  the  usual 
opposition  which  almost  invariably  appears  when 
something  radical  is  introduced  into  any  procedure 
connected  at  all  with  the  church.  Anyway,  it  is 
a  general  feeling  among  many  church  leaders  that 
the  essentials  of  real  moral  training  had  better  be 
left  to  the  parents. 

11 


The  parents,  however,  seem  to  have  other 
matters  on  hand  these  days.  This  is  as  true  of  the 
poor  as  of  the  prosperous  and  wealthy.  With  the 
former,  the  high  cost  of  living  and  the  keen 
competition  of  the  day  make  it  difficult  for  many 
parents  to  pay  but  the  scantest  attention  to  the 
bringing  up  of  their  children,  and  we  must  remem- 
ber that  there  are  very  many  families  in  which 
both  parents  are  workers,  the  children  being  left 
to  shift  for  themselves  during  the  day.  In  the 
evening,  the  parents  are  too  weary  to  occupy 
themselves  with  anything  but  the  merest  physical 
needs  of  their  children.  With  the  well-to-do, 
desire  is  not  lacking,  but  here  again  the  father 
does  not  see  a  great  deal  of  his  children,  and  the 
mothers,  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  are  not  spending 
as  much  time  with  their  children  as  in  times  past. 
And  yet,  you  will  find  that  parents  of  almost  all 
classes  feel  that  something  is  wrong  somewhere. 
And  that  there  is  something  wrong  there  is  little 
doubt  Juvenile  vice  is  on  the  increase  accord- 
ing to  the  best  authorities.  The  records  of  the 
juvenile  courts  and  reformatories  give  matter  to 
ponder  over.  The  reports  of  various  vice  com- 
missions give  portentous  summaries.  The  general 
uncleanliness  of  our  politics  and  business  methods 
is  a  fact  which  causes  nation  wide  concern.  Then, 
too,  throughout  the  country,  there  seems  to  be  a 
growing  contempt  for  law  and  for  order — a  feel- 

12 


ing  manifested  in  many  ways.  The  responsibility 
for  all  these  things  is  now  being  laid  at  the  doors 
of  the  home,  and,  as  has  been  said,  the  home  feels 
that  something  is  wrong  somewhere.  And  so  we 
find  innumerable  women's  clubs  discussing  the 
question  of  moral  instruction  and  training  in  the 
home,  and  capable  teachers  and  students  are  lec- 
turing through  the  columns  of  the  newspapers 
and  the  modern-spirited  magazines.  But  out  of 
the  chaos,  as  yet,  no  policy  has  been  formed ; 
no  generally  recognized  plan,  the  following  of 
which  will  enable  the  home  to  check  the  tide 
with  any  real  effect. 

For  these  reasons,  then,  the  church  reluctantly 
admitting  its  failure,  and  the  home  overwhelmed 
in  the  complexity  and  power  of  modern  tempta- 
tions, we  find  the  parents  turning  in  despair  to  the 
schools,  hoping  that  these  may  find  a  way  out  of 
the  difficulty.  This  indicates  a  great  change  in 
the  popular  conception  of  the  duty  of  a  school — 
an  abandonment  of  the  idea  that  the  school's 
single  aim  is  to  give  a  working  knowledge  of  the 
"  three  R's  "  and  nothing  else.  In  fact,  little  by 
little,  the  schools  have  begun  to  interest  themselves 
in  matters  which  were  once  believed  to  be  the 
concern  of  the  home  only.  The  school  has  come 
to  realize  that  the  mental  welfare  of  a  child 
depends  largely  upon  its  physical  condition,  and 
so  a  movement  has  started  which,  beginning  with 

13 


simple  calisthenics,  has  developed  into  an  increas- 
ingly effective  system  of  medical  inspection  of  all 
pupils,  in  many  schools ;  the  providing  for  school 
nurses  and  doctors ;  the  teaching  of  hygiene  and 
home  sanitation ;  the  installing  of  school  baths ; 
the  providing,  in  a  number  of  places,  of  school 
lunches  and  dinners  for  nominal  sums;  the  taking 
up  of  domestic  science  and  allied  subjects,  and 
even  a  visiting  of  homes  and  an  establishing  of 
social  centers  where  parents  and  teachers  may 
meet  and  discuss  matters  in  which  they  are 
mutually  interested. 

Few  better  than  the  school-teachers  realize, 
at  this  time,  how  vitally  some  method,  some  gen- 
eral method,  for  moral  instruction  and  training,  is 
needed.  The  teacher  is  a  more  trained  observer 
of  children  than  is  the  average  parent.  Besides, 
teachers  are  becoming  "  progressive."  They  are 
studying  the  psychology  of  the  child.  They  are 
looking  into  all  the  conditions  that  affect,  either 
for  good  or  for  bad,  the  development  of  the  child. 
These  trained  observers  of  children  have  come  to 
realize,  as  has  been  stated,  the  immediate  need  for 
some  method  of  moral  instruction  and  training, 
and  they  find  that  parents,  and  students  of  the 
subject  are  beginning  to  declare  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  schools  to  come  to  the  rescue  and  develop 
and  put  into  use  such  effective  systems  as  may  be 
devised. 

14 


For  all  these  reasons,  the  schools  themselves 
feel  that  they  have  a  great  responsibility  in  the 
matter,  and  so  there  has  developed  an  immense 
interest  among  educators  concerning  the  moral 
instruction  and  training  of  children,  and  a  great  dis- 
cussion concerning  practical  methods.  Teachers' 
institutes,  educational  societies,  civic  clubs  and 
women's  clubs  are  taking  up  the  matter  with  a 
directness  and  intentness  which  promises  great 
things  for  the  future. 

We  have  considered,  briefly,  why  the  schools 
should  concern  themselves  more  directly  in  the 
moral  education  of  the  child,  and  now  we  can  study 
the  first  really  difficult  problem,  the  "WHAT." 
Of  what  should  this  moral  instruction  and  training 
consist,  and  what  are  the  subjects,  "moral"  sub- 
jects, which  the  schools  must  consider  ? 

We  must  remember  that  there  is  no  general 
agreement  as  to  how  this  question  is  to  be 
answered.  Some  give  a  very  narrow  interpretation 
to  the  expression  "moral  training,"  while  others 
give  a  very  broad  one.  But  we  can  say,  perhaps, 
that  there  are  three  kinds  of  relationships  which 
exist  in  this  our  civilization.  Men  and  women 
are  related  as  citizens,  as  persons  engaged  "  com- 
mercially/' so  to  speak,  and,  finally,  there  is  the 
more  intimate,  more  sacred  relationship  of  the 
family,  as  husband  and  wife,  brother  and  sister. 
Therefore  it  seems  that  there  is  a  kind  of  politi- 

15 


cal  morality  which  should  govern  the  actions  of 
people  as  inhabitants  of  cities,  states  and  nations. 
Then  there  is  a  kind  of  commercial  morality  which 
should  govern  the  actions  of  people  when  they 
deal  with  one  another  in  all  the  multitudinous 
relationships  of  the  business  and  industrial  worlds. 
Finally,  there  is  that  kind  of  morality — a  private 
morality — which  should  govern  the  actions  and 
thoughts  of  each  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
more  intimate  and  sacred  relationships  of  life.  So 
we  have  these  three  forms  of  "morality"  to  con- 
sider: Political  Morality,  Commercial  Morality 
and  Private  Morality.  It  is  becoming  a  conviction 
that  the  school  must  concern  itself  with  all  three. 
"Why  is  it  necessary,"  one  may  ask,  "to  make 
a  special  point  of  Political  Morality?"  One  has 
only  to  look  about  one  and  listen  awhile  to  be 
answered.  First  of  all,  though  this  is  supposed  to 
be  a  government  for  the  people  and  by  the  people, 
and  to  some  extent  is  actually  so.  Still,  it  is  only 
too  common  for  a  town,  a  city  or  a  state  to  find 
that  it  has  a  government  by  political  cliques,  for 
the  benefit,  primarily,  of  those  cliques,  often  with 
the  accompanying  benefit  of  political  contractors 
or  of  powerful  corporations.  This  statement  is  so 
far  from  being  novel  that  we  have  come  to  accept 
such  conditions  almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  But 
how  long,  do  you  think,  would  such  conditions 
last  were  there  a  strong  popular  feeling  against 

16 


such  practices?  There  is  no  generally  strong 
popular  feeling  against  them  at  present.  Most  of 
those  who  consider  these  affairs  at  all  content 
themselves  with  the  expression  of  a  more  or  less 
mild  disapproval ;  but  very  many  do  not  consider 
these  matters  at  all.  It  is  almost  certain  that  if 
there  were  a  strong  popular  feeling  against  civic 
corruption — a  real,  sincere,  active  feeling,  having 
its  foundation  in  the  fundamental  conceptions  of 
a  majority  of  the  people,  civic  corruption  would 
vanish  like  darkness  before  the  sun!  But  then, 
you  know,  there  is  no  such  popular  feeling.  But 
such  a  feeling  is  necessary  if  dreams  of  true 
republican  freedom  are  to  be  realized.  The  home  is 
doing  little  to  develop  such  a  feeling  in  the  hearts 
of  the  children.  The  churches  claim  that  this  is 
aside  from  their  chosen  field,  therefore  it  is  the 
school  which  must  develop  a  popular  feeling 
where  such  a  feeling  can  be  developed  easiest,  and 
that  is  in  the  minds  of  children,  the  future  citizens 
of  this  republic.  Their  teachers  must  give  them 
*  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of  govern- 
ment ;  they  must  give  them  a  sincere  respect  for 
the  laws  that  the  people  make  for  themselves. 
Disrespect  for  law  and  order  and  of  the  rights  of 
others  seems  rife  in  this  country.  Mobs  seem 
only  waiting  for  opportunity  for  violence  and 
destruction — mobs  principally  of  boys  and  young 
men.  Lynchings  are  so  common  as  to  cause  little 

17 


notice.     Civic  brigandage  is  looked  upon  almost 
as  a  joke. 

These  are  dangerous  manifestations  and  not 
new  ones  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Already, 
too,  voices  are  being  heard  which  proclaim  hatred 
of  the  law  because  it  is  law ;  voices  that  belong  to 
no  particular  "ist"  or  "ism,"  but  which  frequently 
hide  under  good  names  in  order  to  excuse  their 
words.  Such  voices  preach  the  brotherhood  of 
man  one  day  and  countenance  the  dynamite  bomb 
the  next.  They  are  the  voices  of  those  who 
desire  and  would  take  by  force  from  those  who 
have.  They  are  the  voices  of  the  unsuccessful, 
who  suspect  the  honesty  of  success.  They  are 
the  voices  of  the  sincere,  and  miserable,  and 
ignorant,  who  do  not  know  what  to  do  to  free 
themselves  from  the  cruel  course  of  things.  A 
matter  of  unspeakable  import  is  being  placed  in 
your  hands,  you  teachers  of  children,  for  it  is  for 
you  to  counteract  the  modern  wave  of  disrespect 
for  law  and  order — two  vital  requirements  for  the 
peace  and  general  advancement  of  the  country. 
It  is  for  you  to  see  to  it  that  the  children  gain  the 
fundamental  ideas  and  ideals  necessary  for  political 
morality.  It  is  for  you  to  give  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  combat  the  kind  of  ignorance  which 
has  brought  the  downfall  of  many  a  nation  in  the 
past.  Possibly  the  future  of  the  republic  is  in  your 
hands.  See  to  it  that  you  are  equal  to  the  trust ! 

18 


"Why  is  it  necessary," one  may  ask, "to  make  a 
special  point  of  'commercial'  morals?"  Surely 
the  thundering  of  the  press  has  not  been  without 
avail !  Surely  every  observer  knows  of  the  modern 
crusades  against  the  false  measure,  against  the 
manufacturing  and  selling  of  impure  foods, 
against  poisonous  quack  medicines,  against  child 
labor,  against  too  long  hours  for  women  workers, 
and  against  commercial  and  manufacturing  mon- 
opolies. Surely  there  is  a  need  for  more  morality 
in  our  commercial  and  business  relations,  and 
where  are  such  ideas  and  ideals,  as  are  necessary,  to 
be  developed  and  inculcated,  if  not  in  the  schools  ? 
For  here  again  we  have  no  strong  popular  feeling 
on  the  subject.  The  boy  in  the  home  hears  little 
to  the  detriment  of  the  unscrupulous  business  man 
or  corporation — as  long  as  the  man  or  corporation 
is  successful.  If  a  strong  popular  feeling  against 
all  such  commercial,  industrial  and  business  im- 
morality did  exist,  these  evils  would  disappear  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  Again  is  a  vital  matter 
put  into  your  hands,  teachers ;  see  to  it  that  you 
are  equal  to  the  trust ! 

"Why  is  it  necessary,"  one  may  ask,  "  for  the 
schools  to  make  a  special  point  of  Private  Moral- 
ity ? "  Surely,  surely,  this  is  the  field  of  the  home, 
if  the  home  has  any  field  whatever.  But  here  again 
the  home  seems  to  fail,  and  it  is  to  the  schools 
that  we  must  look,  for  a  time,  at  least,  if  our 

19 


children  are  to  be  given  active  ideals  that  will  cause 
them  to  lead  clean,  moral  lives.  And  it  is  not  such 
a  difficult  matter,  after  all,  for  children  are  not 
basically  bad  or  immoral.  They  are  un- moral, 
and,  therefore,  need  to  be  shown  the  way.  The 
home  does  not  show  the  way  nor  open  the  eyes 
to  the  dangers  of  the  road.  On  the  contrary,  the 
home  usually  blindfolds  each  trusting  child  and 
sends  it  out  upon  a  path  well  beset  with  bogs  and 
pitfalls.  It  is  for  you,  teachers,  to  stretch  forth 
your  hands  and  cause  the  children  to  see,  so  that 
they  may  follow  the  path  without  falling  and 
enter,  unsullied,  into  the  joys  beyond.  Wonderful 
and  inspiring  is  the  trust  that  is  being  put  into 
your  hands;  see  to  it  that  it  has  not  been  mis- 
placed !  Aye,  here  is  a  matter  far  more  important 
than  a  multitude  of  English  grammars  and  a 
wilderness  of  geographies! 

We  have  considered,  briefly,  why  the  schools 
should  concern  themselves  with  the  moral  training 
and  instruction  of  children,  and  we  have  discussed, 
a  little,  the  question  as  to  what  should  come  under 
the  head  of  the  general  subject  "moral."  Before 
the  seed  is  planted,  the  ground  must  be  prepared, 
and,  likewise,  before  we  can  take  up  methods  for 
our  moral  instruction  and  training,  we  must  see  to 
it  that  the  children  are  well  prepared  for  such 
training,  and  that  there  are  no  remediable  con- 
ditions that  would  counteract  our  efforts  in  aid  of 

20 


the  moral  development  of  the  children.  In  other 
words,  we  must  remember  that  the  physical,  the 
mental  and  the  moral  are  most  intimately  related, 
and  that  if  one  is  affected,  the  other  two  feel  it. 
A  constant  physical  irritation,  such  as  is  caused  by 
adenoids,  eye  strain  or  some  other  equally 
common  defect,  would  not  only  affect  the  child's 
mental  ability,  but  also  his  character.  It  is  no  un- 
common thing  for  a  stupid,  incorrigible  boy  to 
become  normally  studious  and  well  behaved  after 
the  removal  of  enlarged  adenoids,  or  the  pro- 
viding of  glasses,  or  the  filling  and  straightening 
of  teeth.  And  so,  too,  when  one  is  mentally 
upset,  the  body  shows  it  in  many  ways,  as  does  the 
character.  As  for  the  effect  of  the  moral  upon 
the  mental  and  physical,  it  hardly  needs  mention- 
ing. But  the  interrelation  of  the  mental,  moral 
and  physical  parts  of  one's  being  are  not  always 
considered,  and  particularly  when  the  training  of 
children  is  the  question. 

Before  we  begin  our  moral  instruction  and 
training,  then,  we  must  see  to  it  that  there  is 
nothing  in  the  schools  acting  against  the  physical 
well-being  of  the  child,  and  nothing  against  the 
mental  well-being. 

Let  us  consider  these  two  questions  in  turn : 
What  a  school  should  do  for  the  Physical  and 
what  a  school  should  do  for  the  Mental  part  of 
a  child's  development. 

21 


The  three  principal  points  first  considered  in 
school  sanitation  are  ventilation,  lighting  and 
cleanliness.  In  most  schools,  whether  public  or 
private,  we  generally  find  a  fair  state  of  cleanliness, 
although  doubtless  a  great  majority  of  public 
schools  possess  inadequate,  unclean  or  more  or 
less  unsanitary  toilet  facilities.  One  would  think 
that  in  this  day  and  age  that  proper  ventilation  of 
school  rooms  should  be  a  problem  no  longer,  but 
the  fact  is  that  it  is  a  very  considerable  problem, 
not  only  in  public  schools,  where  there  is  some 
inspection,  but  probably  more  so  in  many  private 
schools,  where,  unfortunately,  there  is  no  public 
inspection  whatever.  The  very  worst  rooms  for 
school  rooms,  the  most  illy  ventilated,  as  well  as 
the  worst  lighted,  have  been  found  in  private 
schools,  and  not  small,  impecunious  private  schools 
either.  In  a  few  very  modern  schools,  one  finds 
splendid  ventilating  systems  which  cause  an  entire 
change  of  air  in  every  room  every  few  minutes. 
But  these  schools  are  few  and  far  between.  The 
usual  school  depends  for  warmth  upon  steam 
radiators,  which  generally  heat  and  reheat  the 
stale  air  of  the  rooms,  which  receive  what  little 
ventilation  they  do  have  through  small  apertures  at 
the  windows,  causing  the  unpleasant  "draughts" 
which  are  blamed  for  so  many  ills.  In  the  spring 
and  autumn,  of  course,  the  question  of  ventilation 
is  not  such  a  serious  one,  but,  generally  speaking, 

22 


to  go  into  the  average  school  room,  from  the  out- 
side, on  a  cold  winter's  day,  almost  stifles  one,  on  ac- 
count of  the  staleness  and  unpleasantness  of  the  air. 

Before  you  endeavor  to  begin  the  moral 
development  of  school  children,  see  to  it  that  they 
have  clean,  fresh  air  in  the  school  room.  Foul  air 
means  cloudy  brains  and  much  irritability  and  ill 
nature — no  good  ground  for  the  seeds  of  any  kind 
of  morality. 

There  is  little  excuse  for  bad  lighting  these 
days,  and  yet  bad  lighting,  or  poor  lighting,  is  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception.  It  is  true  that  in 
the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  great  breaking 
away  from  old  ideas  as  to  school  architecture.  In 
cities  as  separated  as  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  St. 
Louis  and  Kansas  City,  we  find  the  new  school 
buildings  possessed  of  great  banks  of  windows,  so 
that  almost  an  entire  side  of  each  class  room  would 
consist  of  windows.  Dr.  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh, 
Superintendent  of  Schools  for  Philadelphia,  has 
said  that  the  ideal  school  should  have  just  wall 
enough  to  support  the  upper  floors  and  the  roof 
and  that  the  rest  of  the  space  should  be  windows. 
This  idea  seems  to  be  carried  out  in  all  the  new 
Philadelphia  schools.  And  yet  schools  are  only 
too  common  which  seem  to  have  windows  let  in 
only  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  walls — and  this 
criticism  applies  to  private  as  well  as  public  schools. 
As  has  been  said,  the  worst  lighted  rooms  seen  by 

23 


the  writer  were  in  private  schools  of  high  stand- 
ing. One  room  particularly  is  remembered,  a 
room  containing  thirty  pupils,  in  an  old,  rather 
famous  private  school.  This  room  had  one  win- 
dow at  the  back  of  the  class,  and  perhaps  eight 
feet  from  the  rearmost  desk,  and  had  another 
window  in  the  top  of  a  door  which  was  diagonally 
to  the  front  and  right  of  the  class.  A  little  more 
light  came  in  through  the  semi-glass  partitions 
built  between  this  room  and  two  other  class- 
rooms, which  latter  were  not  particularly  well 
lighted.  This  particular  room  was  so  dark  that 
electric  lights  were  required  most  of  the  time,  and 
these  lights,  four  in  number,  were  so  placed  as  to 
shine  directly  into  the  eyes  of  a  majority  of  the 
pupils.  There  was  much  illness  in  that  room,  as 
I  remember  it,  much  eye  strain  and  headache, 
which  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  This  example, 
however,  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  an  excep- 
tion, for  the  lighting  in  perhaps  a  majority  of 
schools  is  still  either  inadequate  or  badly  placed. 
So  before  you  start  in  to  care  for  the  moral 
development  of  the  school  child,  see  to  it  that  all 
that  is  possible  is  done  to  give  the  child  a  proper 
amount  of  light  from  the  proper  direction,  for 
insufficient  light  and  improper  direction  cause 
much  eye  strain  and  eye  defects,  which,  in  turn, 
are  sometimes  sufficient  to  undermine  a  child's 
whole  moral  nature. 

24 


WINDOWS  SEEMINGLY  PLACED  TO  BREAK  THE 
MONOTONY  OF  THE  WALLS 


NO.   I   IS  NOT  A  SCHOOL,  BUT  A  FACTORY 
NO.  2  IS  NOT  A  STABLE,  BUT  A   CITY  SCHOOL 


A    GOOD    EXAMPLE    OF    HIGH     SCHOOL    ARCHITECTURE 
MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Another  great  question  is  that  of  seating.  The 
writer  has  taught  in  a  number  of  schools,  and  has 
visited  schools  as  far  apart  as  Massachusetts  and 
Missouri,  and  in  only  one  was  there  a  systematic 
attempt  to  regulate  the  seats  and  desks  to  the  size 
of  the  children.  In  this  school  the  adjustment 
was  made  twice  during  the  school  year.  In  a 
number  of  schools  there  are  desks  and  seats  capa- 
ble of  such  adjustment  which  are  never  by  any 
chance  adjusted,  but  a  majority  of  schools,  public 
and  private,  have  seats  which  cannot  be  adjusted 
at  all;  so  we  have  children  of  all  sizes  seated  at 
desks  of  the  same  height,  a  fruitful  cause  of  a  great 
amount  of  spinal  curvature  and  round  shoulders. 

Although  the  public  schools  seem  to  be  regu- 
lar offenders  in  this  matter  of  seating,  and  the 
only  school  known  to  the  writer  having  regularly 
adjusted  seats  being  a  private  school,  yet  here 
again  the  private  schools  have  been  the  worst 
offenders.  In  one  large  day  school,  at  this  writ- 
ing, double  desks  and  benches  are  in  use  which 
were  installed  a  generation  or  two  ago.  The  class 
room,  possessing  these  heirlooms,  seats  about 
thirty  boys.  These  seats  and  desks  are  all  one 
size,  uncomfortable  and  poorly  designed  for  their 
purpose.  Another  private  school,  a  large  board- 
ing institution  of  the  expensive  variety,  has  its 
furniture  designed,  it  seems,  to  develop  spinal 
curvature  in  the  shortest  length  of  time.  This 

25 


school  has  no  desks,  but  the  right  arms  of  the  class 
chairs  are  broadened  out  so  that  they  can  be  used 
as  makeshift  desks.  When  being  used  as  such, 
the  children,  of  course,  have  to  sit  with  the 
shoulders  turned  more  or  less  to  one  side  and  bent 
over  at  the  same  time.  Such  arrangements  may 
be  proper  for  college  men  who  have  attained 
most  of  their  growth,  but  the  providing  of  such 
furniture,  for  the  sake  of  economy  or  conveni- 
ence, for  growing  children,  seems  almost,  if  not 
quite,  criminal.  Therefore,  before  a  school  begins 
to  take  up  moral  instruction  at  all  seriously,  it 
should  do  all  it  can  to  provide  hygienic  seats  for 
the  pupils,  for  much  physical  distress,  and  conse- 
quent mental  and  moral  difficulties,  can  be  occa- 
sioned by  the  spinal  curvatures  and  cramped  chests 
that  result  from  unhygienic  seating. 

The  medical  inspection  of  pupils  in  schools 
has  passed  beyond  the  experimental  stage  and  has 
proved  to  be  of  the  very  greatest  value.  There 
are  several  very  common  physical  defects  which 
affect  seriously  the  mental  development  and  moral 
condition  of  a  child,  the  most  common  being 
adenoids,  enlarged  tonsils,  defective  vision  and 
maladjusted  or  defective  teeth.  There  are  other 
physical  defects,  to  be  sure,  but  these  are  very 
common  and  serious  in  their  results.  Enlarged 
adenoids,  and  eye  strain  particularly,  are  fruitful 
causes  of  misbehavior,  ill-temper,  incorrigibility 

26 


or  even  immorality.  It  is  an  excellent  thing, 
therefore,  to  have  each  school  child  examined  by 
a  school  physician  at  least  once,  and,  if  possible, 
twice  in  a  year,  so  that  such  defects  may  be  dis- 
covered in  good  time.  This  means,  too,  that  it 
should  be  seen  to  that  the  cases  found  receive 
proper  treatment — free  treatment  if  the  parents 
deserve  it.  Such  a  system  is  beginning,  for 
instance,  in  Philadelphia,  where  the  children 
receive  the  best  of  medical  care,  without  charge, 
if  necessary,  and  children  needing  glasses  are  pro- 
vided with  them  gratis. 

Such  a  medical  system  as  has  been  outlined 
has  not  become  at  all  general  as  yet.  In  fact,  in 
many  places  there  has  not  even  been  a  beginning. 
When  you  are  planning  courses  of  moral  instruc- 
tion, therefore,  you  should  do  all  you  can  to  have 
every  child  in  the  best  possible  physical  condition, 
and  this  means  frequent  medical  inspection,  medi- 
cal treatment  and  perhaps  the  service  of  a  school 
nurse. 

Another  very  serious  question  is  that  of  school 
lunches.  In  the  poorer  quarters  of  cities  many 
children  come  to  school  in  the  morning  illy  or 
insufficiently  fed.  Unfortunately,  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon to  find  children  in  such  schools  whose  break- 
fast has  included  little  beyond  a  few  pieces  of 
bread  and  a  cup  of  coffee.  Malnutrition  and 
underfeeding  is  anything  but  uncommon.  Very 

27 


frequently,  too,  both  parents  are  workers,  which 
means  that  when  the  children  from  such  homes 
return  to  them  for  their  midday  meal,  all  that  they 
get  is  what  they  can  prepare  themselves  or  what 
they  can  find  cold.  Yet  in  many  such  cases  the 
parents  would  be  glad  to  give  the  children  two  or 
three  pennies  with  which  to  buy  some  kind  of 
lunch.  Many  parents  do  give  small  sums  for  this 
purpose,  most  of  which  goes  over  the  counter  at 
the  corner  candy  store  or  into  the  unsanitary 
pockets  of  the  street  vender  of  sweets,  pretzels, 
pickles  and  similar  dainties.  This  is  no  new  con- 
dition of  affairs.  In  some  foreign  countries  the 
providing  of  cheap  school  lunches  has  become  a 
regular  procedure.  In  this  country  many  experi- 
ments along  the  same  lines  have  been  tried.  Per- 
haps the  best  is  that  which  has  been  carried  on  in 
Philadelphia,  at  first  by  the  Home  and  School 
League  of  that  city.  This  system  provides  penny 
lunches  at  half  past  ten  in  the  morning,  when  the 
pupils  can  purchase  a  variety  of  nourishing  articles 
for  a  penny  apiece — articles  at  once  sanitary  and 
nourishing,  as,  for  instance,  a  glass  of  milk,  a  cup 
of  cocoa,  a  chocolate  bar,  a  bread  and  jam  sand- 
wich or  a  few  graham  crackers.  At  twelve  a  three 
cent  "dinner"  can  be  purchased,  which  might 
consist  of  a  cup  of  thick  stew,  a  cup  of  cocoa  or 
a  glass  of  milk  and  stewed  fruit  with  wheat  or  rye 
bread.  Instead  of  the  stew,  there  might  be  baked 

28 


beans,  or  chowder,  or  split  pea  soup,  or  one  of  a 
number  of  nourishing  dishes. 

By  means  of  a  series  of  exhaustive  tests  and 
experiments,  it  has  been  proved  that  the  children 
partaking  of  these  dinners  gained  more  physically 
and  improved  in  lesson  and  conduct  marks  more 
than  did  the  children  in  the  same  school  who  did 
not  have  the  dinners.  It  was  found  that  the  very 
reasonable  amount  charged  for  these  "lunches" 
and  "  dinners  "  paid  for  the  food  used,  though  not 
for  the  service  and  equipment — an  expense  found, 
however,  to  be  very  worth  while.  There  is  no 
doubt  whatever  but  that  underfed  or  ill-fed  chil- 
dren are  frequently,  as  a  consequence,  temporarily 
subnormal  mentally,  and  even  morally.  This  being 
so,  the  school  should  see  to  it,  if  possible,  that 
all  children  suffering  from  malnutrition  receive 
proper  care.  The  feeding  in  the  home,  by  the 
way,  can  be  benefited  directly  by  means  of 
organizing  mothers'  meetings,  at  frequent  inter- 
vals, in  which  the  teachers  can  become  acquainted 
with  the  mothers,  foster  a  spirit  of  co-operation 
and  make  much  of  the  subject  of  feeding  and 
cooking,  by  means  of  cooking  classes,  competi- 
tions and  similar  activities.  That  such  meetings 
are  easy  to  develop,  and  that  they  are  very  helpful, 
has  been  found  to  be  the  case,  particularly  in 
Philadelphia,  where  the  school  "social  center" 
idea  is  very  highly  developed. 

29 


Still  another  serious  question  is  that  of  the 
defective  child,  whether  the  defect  be  temporary 
or  permanent.  A  mentally  defective  child  in 
a  class  of  normal  children  brings  not  only  an 
excessive  amount  of  strain  on  the  teacher,  but 
has  a  bad  effect  both  upon  the  defective  child 
and  the  class  of  which  it  is  a  member. 

It  is  getting  to  be  a  common  opinion  among 
modern  educators  that  each  school  system  should 
possess  a  "  psychological  clinic,"  to  which  should 
be  sent  all  abnormal  children ;  that  is,  the  back- 
ward children,  the  seemingly  mentally  defective, 
the  truant,  the  incorrigible,  the  so-called  "bad" 
children,  and  all  those  who  in  any  way  seem  to  be 
having  an  unusual  difficulty  with  the  usual  school 
work.  It  would  be  the  work  of  such  a  clinic  to 
separate,  as  far  as  possible,  the  curable  or  remedi- 
able children  from  those  permanently  defective. 
It  should  be  able  to  suggest  the  means  for  helping 
the  curable,  and  should  look  into  the  cause  for 
each  abnormal  condition  as  far  as  possible.  Fur- 
thermore, each  system  should  have  an  institution, 
perhaps  supported  by  the  state,  to  which  the  in- 
curably mentally  defective  would  be  sent.  By 
law,  all  grades  of  defectives,  from  the  high  grade 
imbecile  to  the  lowest  idiot,  should  be  segregated 
for  life.*  In  such  institutions,  the  lives  of  such 

*Read  "Monstrous  Breakdown  of  the  Criminal  Law,"  by  Carl 
Snyder,  Collier's  Weekly  for  December  2,  1911,  page  36. 

30 


children  and  adults  can  be  made  not  only  happy, 
but  useful.  Their  being  at  large  is  not  only  a 
public  menace,  as  a  great  number  of  our  daily 
murders,  arsons  and  other  crimes  are  caused  by 
imbeciles,  but  also  we  must  consider  that  the  per- 
centage of  imbeciles  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  at 
an  appalling  rate,  so  that  the  asylums  and  special 
institutions  for  their  care  and  charge  must  be  con- 
tinually expanded  and  enlarged  and  increased  in 
number,  and  the  public  expense  makes  a  serious 
sum  total.  Children  found  to  be  permanent 
mental  defectives  should  be  isolated,  then,  for  life. 
It  is  a  terrible  mistake  to  do  as  is  so  often  done  in 
our  cities,  and  that  is  to  provide  special  schools 
or  classes  in  which  are  segregated  the  curable  and 
incurable  mental  defectives,  the  temporarily  back- 
ward or  retarded  and  the  moral  degenerates.  The 
effect  of  the  presence  of  the  latter  upon  their 
weak-minded  associates  is  certainly  very  evil. 
Some  moral  degenerates  seem  to  possess  an  other- 
wise normal  mentality,  and  sometimes  manage  to 
keep  place  in  the  regular  grades.  The  writer,  who 
has  made  a  special  study  of  such  cases,  knows  that 
the  damage  done  by  one  such  child  in  a  class  is 
almost  incalculable.  If  there  were  special  schools, 
as  no  doubt  there  should  be,  then  it  should  be 
seen  to  that  the  so-called  "  moral "  cases  are  kept 
separate  from  the  merely  "weak-minded"  or 
retarded  ones,  and  it  should  be  emphasized  that 

31 


those  diagnosed  as  imbeciles,  or  worse,  should  be 
sent  to  institutions  for  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Every  school  system,  then,  should  possess  such 
a  clinic  as  has  been  mentioned,  perhaps  modeled 
upon  the  Psychological  Clinic  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  as  organized  by  Dr.  Lightner 
Witmer  of  that  institution.  This  school  clinic 
should  be  able  to  distinguish  the  curable  from  the 
incurable,  and  to  suggest  remedial  measures  for 
those  declared  curable.  Under  no  circum- 
stances should  a  mentally  defective  child  be 
retained  in  a  class  of  normal  children,  for,  as  has 
been  said,  the  evil  effect  upon  the  child  and  upon 
the  class  would  greatly  counteract  any  attempt  to 
develop  any  real  moral  instruction  and  training  in 
that  class. 

Having  considered  the  principal  conditions 
which  might  counteract,  to  more  or  less  an  extent, 
the  effects  of  giving  any  system  of  moral  instruc- 
tion and  training,  we  can  go  a  step  farther  and 
outline,  briefly,  what  basic  principles  must  under- 
lie any  practical  and  effective  system  for  the  moral 
development  of  school  children. 

First  of  all,  such  a  system  must  consider  the 
psychological  development  of  the  child.  Our 
common  school  systems  start  a  child's  education 
with  abstractions  and  work  up  to  concrete  exer- 
cises, manual  training  and  the  like,  in  the  higher 
grades,  thus  reversing  the  natural  process,  which 

32 


begins  with  the  concrete  and  develops  into  an 
appreciation  of  the  abstract.  It  is  the  ignoring  of 
this  fact  that  makes  our  educational  systems 
seriously  ineffective,  and,  not  only  so,  but  the 
preponderance  of  book  work  over  hand  work  in 
the  lower  grades  doubtless  takes  the  keen  edge 
from  a  child's  mentality,  or  at  least  fails  to  give  the 
child  the  mental  exercise  best  fitted  for  its  stage 
of  development.  The  unnatural  mental  strain 
involved,  too,  must  react  upon  the  character  of  the 
child,  and  may,  in  part,  account  for  the  peculiar 
kind  of  "nervousness"  which  is  supposed  to  be 
typically  American.  Furthermore,  this  excessive 
amount  of  book  work  given  to  young  children  is 
not  necessary.  It  is  said,  for  instance,  that  a  nor- 
mal child  of  twelve,  in  one  year,  can  master  all  the 
mathematics  generally  given  to  children  up  to 
the  twelfth  year.  Our  public  school  systems  are 
curiously  inflexible  in  one  direction.  The  "slow" 
child  has  plenty  of  opportunity  for  repeating  and 
reviewing,  but  the  bright  child  has  great  difficulty 
in  advancing  more  rapidly  than  the  so-called 
"  average  "  child.  Despite  this  fact,  however,  Dr. 
Leonard  P.  Ayres,  of  the  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion, found  that  children  who  entered  school  later 
than  the  average,  completed  their  eight  grades  in 
less  time  than  the  average.*  In  Denmark,  it  was 

*  "Laggards  in  Our  Schools,"  by  Leonard  P.  Ayres,  published  by 
Charities  Publication  Committee,  pages  166,  167. 

33 


found  that  the  country  children,  going  to  school 
but  three  days  a  week,  at  fifteen  or  sixteen  passed 
equally  well  the  same  examinations  for  which  the 
city  children  had  been  preparing  for  nine  or  ten 
years,  with  the  usual  five  days  a  week.  From 
this  we  may  perhaps  conclude  that  the  amount 
of  book  work  generally  given  school  children 
under  thirteen  is  not  only  not  particularly  valu- 
able, but  possibly  even  deleterious.  It  is  quite 
possible,  therefore,  that  a  system  which  acts 
against  the  best  mental  development  of  the 
child  is  likely  to  act  against  the  best  moral 
development  as  well.  When  William  James  was 
asked  what  he  would  do  to  increase  the  ethical 
efficiency  of  school  training,  if  he  had  a  free 
hand,  he  said :  "  I  should  increase,  enormously,  the 
amount  of  manual  or  "motor"  training  relatively 
to  the  book  work,  and  not  let  the  latter  prepon- 
derate until  the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen." 

We  should  endeavor  to  make  our  common 
school  systems  more  "psychologic,"  recognizing 
the  fact  that  younger  children  are  not  mentally 
fitted  for  working  with  many  abstract  ideas ;  that 
we  should  endeavor  to  reach  the  "abstract"  by 
means  of  a  systematic  development  of  the  "  con- 
crete"; that  handwork  for  young  children  is  more 
natural  and  hence  better  than  mental  work,  and 
that  possibly  as  much  real  education  can  be  given 
by  means  of  proper  games  and  plays,  when  young 

34 


children  are  concerned,  as  by  any  other  means. 
If  all  this  applies  to  the  regular  school  work,  it 
should  also  apply  to  any  system  for  moral  instruc- 
tion and  training  that  we  might  consider. 

In  the  outline  for  moral  instruction  and  train- 
ing that  follows,  the  psychology  of  the  child  has 
been  considered  carefully.  Child  psychology 
cannot  be  studied  within  the  limits  of  this  work, 
but  it  might  be  said  that  the  most  effective  parts 
of  the  system  have  been  found  to  be  those  which 
appeal  to  the  strongest  natural  characteristics  of 
the  boys  and  the  girls.  The  system,  as  applied  to 
boys,  is  based  largely  upon  the  early  spirit  of  com- 
petition, the  later  spirit  of  co-operation  and  the 
interest  in  physical  expression  as  shown  in  various 
forms  of  physical  culture  and  athletics.  With 
girls,  an  important  part  of  the  plan  must  needs 
depend  largely  upon  the  "  mother  "  instinct,  with 
its  connected  interest  in  the  "home"  idea,  and  the 
related  interest  in  personal  appearance. 

Besides  the  necessary  psychological  basis  for 
our  outline,  there  are  other  considerations.  Any 
system  for  real  moral  instruction  must  be  funda- 
mentally religious,  in  the  broadest  meaning  of  that 
term.  Although  such  a  spirit  must,  of  necessity, 
underlie  any  useful  system,  one  which  is  appli- 
cable for  public  school  use,  must  avoid  being 
specifically  religious;  that  is,  it  cannot  lean  toward 
any  particular  religious  system.  This  thought  has 

35 


been  kept  in  mind  in  the  development  of  the  out- 
line presented  in  this  book. 

Another  consideration  has  been  the  abilities, 
inclinations  and  limitations  of  the  average  teacher. 
The  usual  teacher  is  already  fairly  well  burdened, 
so  our  system  must  not  throw  a  great  deal  of  orig- 
inal work  upon  the  individual  teacher.  The  mod- 
ern teacher,  however,  receives  a  more  and  more 
scientific  training,  which  enables  her  to  under- 
stand the  characteristics  of  her  pupils  better  and 
more  sympathetically.  So  our  outline  endeavors 
to  furnish  a  complete  outline,  which  will  make  it 
unnecessary  for  the  individual  teacher  to  do  much 
original  work,  and  yet  the  details  are  left  to  the 
teacher,  for  each  teacher  can  express  herself  best 
after  her  own  manner,  and  each  teacher  knows  best 
the  special  qualities  of  the  children  in  her  class. 

Briefly,  then,  we  can  say  that  the  "  system/' 
as  given  in  Part  II,  is  built  upon  a  "psychological" 
foundation.  It  endeavors  to  develop  ideas  and 
ideals  which  will  help  a  child  in  its  moral  develop- 
ment, considering  the  three  phases  of  the  subject 
of  "morality" — political  morals,  commercial 
morals  and  individual  or  private  morals.  It 
endeavors  to  possess  a  fundamental  religious  spirit 
without  suggesting  any  particular  "  religion,"  and 
it  considers,  as  far  as  possible,  conditions  in  the 
schools  and  the  characteristics  and  opportunities 
of  the  individual  teacher. 

36 


PART  II 

THE  subjects  mentioned  in  the.  following 
outline  are  to   be  brought  out  in  various 
ways  as  may  seem  most  expedient ;  that  is, 
some  may  be  subjects  for  little  talks  by  the  teacher, 
or  by  an  outside  speaker,  or  for  open  class  discus- 
sions, or  for  compositions,  or  by  some  other  ade- 
quate means.    It  will  be  merely  a  matter  of  opinion 
as  to  how  different  subjects  can  be  developed  best. 
In  some  cases  the  writer  will  make  suggestions 
resulting  from  his  experience. 

The  outline  is  divided  into  "age  sections," 
so  to  speak;  but  these  cannot  be  binding,  for  the 
reason  that  the  intelligence  and  capabilities  of 
children  vary  greatly,  not  only  in  different  sections 
of  the  same  country,  but  in  different  sections  of  the 
same  city.  This  also,  then,  is  a  matter  which  can 
best  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  individual 
principal  and  teacher. 

It  might  be  added  that  this  schedule  is  not 
supposed  to  be  an  exhaustive  one,  but  rather  one 
which  will  be  suggestive,  and,  while  giving  a  cer- 
tain working  foundation,  gives  also  an  opportunity 
for  an  addition  of  suitable  corresponding  topics, 
such  as  individual  teachers  may  think  applicable. 

37 


FOR  CHILDREN  SIX  AND  SEVEN  YEARS  OLD 
THE  SCHOOL 

Why  there  are  schools  and  why  children  are 
sent  to  them.  The  school  is  a  place  where  a  boy 
or  girl  may  learn  how  to  be  good,  how  to  be  strong, 
how  to  think,  what  to  think,  and  to  learn  many 
interesting  and  useful  things.  The  idea  should 
be  made  plain  that  it  is  a  distinct  privilege  to  be 
able  to  go  to  school,  and  that  children  who  have 
schools  to  go  to  are  more  fortunate  than  those 
who  have  no  schools.  Little  stories  may  be  told 
illustrating  unpleasant  results  of  ignorance. 

PUNCTUALITY 

Punctuality  in  the  class  should  be  insisted 
upon  from  the  first,  so  that  it  may  be  made  a 
"habit  of  mind."  Enlarge  upon  the  results 
that  would  ensue  if  no  one  were  regularly 
on  time,  if  trains  did  not  try  to  come  in  on 
time,  if  business  men  and  workmen  did  like- 
wise, if  fire  engines  did  not  come  promptly, 
and  similar  examples. 

OBEDIENCE 

Obedience  should  also  become  a  habit  of 
mind,  for  obedience  means  self-control — that  is,  a 
reasonable  amount  of  obedience.  No  normal  child 
is  strictly  and  forever  obedient.  Be  careful  to  see 
that  your  requirements  are  in  keeping  with  the 

33 


mental  development  of  your  pupils,  and  then  stick 
to  them.  Tell  stories  to  illustrate  what  would  hap- 
pen if  there  were  no  obedience — what  would 
happen  in  an  army,  in  a  department  store,  in  a 
factory,  on  a  steamer,  in  a  school. 

RESPECT 

What  respect  means.  Why  one  should  respect 
one's  parents.  Tell  all  we  owe  to  our  parents — 
care — sacrifice  of  parents.  Why  one  should  respect 
a  teacher.  What  necessary  benefits  a  teacher  gives 
a  child.  How  respect  can  be  shown.  Considera- 
tion. Manners.  Give  ideas  as  to  manners.  Insist 
upon  class  room  manners.  For  instance,  as  each 
child  comes  into  the  room  in  the  morning,  he 
might  stop,  on  the  way  to  his  place,  and  say 
"  good  morning "  to  the  teacher.  Tell  about 
the  meaning  of  raising  the  hat.  Tell  why  boys 
should  give  up  their  seats  in  conveyances  and 
elsewhere,  to  their  elders  or  to  women.  Tell 
why  interrupting  is  impolite,  etc. 

CLEANLINESS 

Show  photographs,  if  possible,  of  a  very  dirty 
boy  and  girl,  and  the  same  children  when  washed. 
Insist  upon  the  children's  coming  to  the  class 
room  clean.  There  should  be  some  system  for 
notifying  parents  concerning  persistent  cases.  Lit- 
tle talks  may  be  given  on  the  subject. 

39 


TRUTH 

Why  truth  is  necessary.  Tell  stories  illustrat- 
ing what  would  happen  if  people  never  told  the 
truth — how  no  one  would  trust  anyone  for  any- 
thing. Tell  the  story  about  the  boy  who  cried 
"  Wolf  "  too  of  ten. 

MINE  AND  THINE 

Why  one  should  not  disturb  the  property  of 
some  one  else.  What  would  happen  if  people 
could  do  so.  How  it  would  never  be  safe  for  a 
man  to  carry  a  pocket  book  without  carrying  a 
weapon  at  the  same  time.  How  all  windows 
would  have  to  be  iron- barred.  How  schools  could 
not  lend  books,  and  similar  ideas. 

THE  PRESIDENT 

A  picture  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  should  hang  in  the  class  room,  and  the  chil- 
dren should  be  given  a  simple  idea  as  to  how 
a  president  is  chosen,  and  why  his  office  should  be 

respected. 

PICTURES 

Fine  pictures  are  a  great  help.  Pictures  can 
be  had  illustrating  some  of  the  lessons  mentioned, 
and  other  similar  lessons. 

GAMES 

The  children  should  have  games  that  would 
develop  accuracy,  carefulness,  persistency  and 
competition. 

40 


FOR  CHILDREN  EIGHT  YEARS  OLD 

Expansion  of  the  previous  ideas.  Stories  illus- 
trating them  may  now  be  read,  and  even  told 
by  the  children  themselves.  For  instance,  a 
child  might  be  encouraged  to  tell  of  some 
incident  which  illustrated  the  value  of  truth,  of 
respect,  of  obedience,  of  cleanliness,  or  the 
like.  Put  emphasis  upon  Respect,  upon 
Cleanliness  and  upon  Manners. 

HONESTY 

This  is  a  development  of  TRUTH.  The 
children  can  be  shown  how  Honesty  is  neces- 
sary for  the  carrying  on  of  all  business  and  of 
all  industry.  The  results  of  dishonesty  should 
be  brought  out. 

CARE   OF  THINGS 

Care  of  own  property  and  care  of  property 
of  others.  What  property  represents  and  why 
it  should  be  cared  for.  The  care  of  property 
of  others  can  be  correlated  with  the  lessons 
on  Truth  and  Honesty. 

ANIMALS 

Rights  of  living  things.  Kindness  to  animals. 
Animal  stories  of  various  kinds,  which  teach  a 
lesson.  Stories  like  Black  Beauty.  Pictures  of 
animals  illustrating  these  ideas. 

41 


HAND  WORK 

Hand  work  which  will  develop  accuracy  and 
patience  and  at  the  same  time  give  pleasure.  Bas- 
ketry, for  example,  or  making  miniature  cities, 
using  blocks,  toys  and  clay,  for  instance. 

GAMES 
As  for  six  and  seven  year  children. 

FOR  CHILDREN  NINE  YEARS  OLD 
SIMPLE  VIRTUES 

As  illustrated  by  some  ideal  historical  char- 
acters. Leonidas,  for  courage  and  loyalty.  Job  for 
patience.  Columbus  for  persistency  and  heroism. 
Franklin  for  self-help.  Peter  the  Great  for  pa- 
triotism. Other  examples  will  suggest  themselves. 

DILIGENCE 

Stories  illustrating  the  value  of  diligence,  how 
the  diligent  workman  advances,  and  how  the  lazy 
or  irregular  workman  remains  a  workman  all  his 
days.  Anything  really  worth  accomplishing  is 
always  the  result  of  diligence. 

SELF-HELP 

This  can  be  brought  out  in  the  accomplishing 
of  school  work.  It  should  be  made  plain  that  one 
who  depends  upon  others  for  everything  will 
never  be  able  to  do  anything  worth  while  himself 
or  herself.  It  is  better  to  try  to  do  our  own  work, 

42 


even  if  we  fail  now  and  then,  than  always  succeed 
with  the  help  of  some  one  else.  The  character 
must  be  exercised,  to  make  it  strong,  just  as  a 
muscle  must  be  exercised,  and  a  character  becomes 
strong  by  using  its  own  strength.  There  should 
be  no  home  work  for  young  children  ;  it  is  better 
for  them  to  do  what  preparation  they  have  in  the 
class  room,  for  then  the  teacher  can  encourage 
them  to  fight  their  own  battles,  knowing  that  the 
children  are  not  depending  upon  parents  for  the 
correctness  of  their  work. 

MODESTY 

Show  how  it  is  that  people  who  claim  too 
much  get  least  credit;  that  it  is  better  to  claim  little 
and  receive  more  than  to  ask  too  much  and 
receive  little.  One  should  be  modest  as  to  one's 
knowledge,  for  no  one,  and  especially  a  child, 
knows  very  much  anyway.  A  modest  person  will 
not  interrupt,  will  not  boast  and  will  not  have 
self-conceit. 

MANNERS 

One's  character  is  often  shown  by  one's  man- 
ners. Impoliteness  means  ignorance,  self-esteem 
and  lack  of  consideration  for  others.  Describe  the 
actions  required,  under  common  circumstances,  of 
well-mannered  persons.  This  is  a  repetition  and 
emphasizing  of  the  lesson  on  Respect  given  the 
six  and  seven  year  old  children. 

43 


GRATITUDE 

Children  are  apt  to  take  every  benefit  as  a 
just  due.  They  should  be  shown  why  they  should 
be  grateful  to  their  parents  for  the  care  they  have 
had,  to  the  teacher  for  her  efforts  to  make  them 
efficient  men  and  women,  to  the  city  and  country 
for  providing  opportunities  and  protection  of  many 
kinds.  Gratitude  can  be  shown  by  respect,  by 
consideration,  by  obedience,  etc. 

FRIENDS  AND  COMPANIONS 

Tell  how  like  is  supposed  to  attract  like,  and 
that  similarly  one  can  often  be  judged  by  the  kind 
of  friends  and  companions  one  has.  We  are 
influenced  by  those  with  whom  we  associate.  You 
cannot  play  with  fire  without  being  burnt  some- 
times, you  cannot  play  with  pitch  without  getting 
stained,  neither  can  you  go  with  bad  friends  or 
companions  without  being  made  more  or  less  like 
them.  Also,  by  having  clean,  strong  friends,  you 
will  be  influenced  to  become  strong  and  clean 
yourself.  The  kind  of  friends  boys  and  girls  make 
often  fixes  the  kind  they  will  have  when  they  grow 
up.  Tell  stories  of  men  who  have  been  made  by 
their  friends,  and  of  others  whose  downfall  came 
through  their  friends.  Have  the  children  write  or 
discuss  the  qualities  a  friend  and  a  companion 
should  have.  Tell  of  some  historic  friendship, 
such  as  that  of  David  and  Jonathan. 

44 


CLEANLINESS 

Bodily  and  mental  cleanliness.  Children  might 
discuss  or  write  compositions  concerning  what 
one  might  think  of  a  dirty  boy  or  girl,  and  why 
one  should  be  bodily  clean.  The  mind  might  be 
described  as  a  complicated  clock-work,  and  a  dirty 
mind  will  work  as  badly  as  a  dirty  clock-work. 
If  a  clock  gets  too  dirty,  it  will  stop,  and  so,  too,  a 
mind  which  allows  itself  to  think  unclean  thoughts 
may  eventually  become  so  filthy  as  to  stop,  too,  as 
far  as  any  useful  purpose  is  concerned. 

VALUE  OF  BODILY  PERFECTION 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of 
this  schedule,  as  far  as  boys  are  concerned  espe- 
cially. The  boys  should  have  a  talk  or  two,  pref- 
erably from  some  one  outside  of  the  school  staff, 
who  would  interest  them  in  the  general  subject  of 
physical  culture.  They  can  be  made  to  desire 
strong  and  large  muscles,  so  that  they  may  become 
good  runners,  good  base  ball  players,  good  jump- 
ers, and  so  on.  Then  they  can  be  offered  a  prize, 
to  be  given  in  the  school  each  year,  for  the  boy 
who  improves  the  most,  physically.  This  plan,  by 
the  way,  can  include  in  it  all  the  boys  nine  years 
old  and  over.  A  few  essential  physical  measure- 
ments should  be  taken,  with  the  boys  stripped  to 
the  waist,  such  as  height,  shoulder-girth,  chest 
expansion,  and  the  contraction  of  each  arm  should 

45 


be  measured.  This  should  be  done  in  the  fall  and 
again  in  the  spring,  in  order  to  find  who  has 
improved  the  most.  An  effective  measure  is  to 
have  an  enlarged  photograph  of  the  winner,  in 
tights,  posed  so  as  to  show  his  "muscle,"  hung 
somewhere  as  one  would  hang  an  athletic  trophy. 
Beside  it  might  be  hung  another  picture  of  the 
boy  in  the  school  considered  as  having  the  best 
physique.  All  the  boys  in  the  school  over  nine 
years  old  should  compete  for  both  places.  A  great 
stimulus  is  the  displaying  of  enlarged  photographs 
of  boys  of  perfect  physique  of  various  ages.  The 
boys,  too,  can  be  formed  into  a  kind  of  "  athletic 
league."  One  started  in  some  Philadelphia  schools 
has  adopted  a  "  league  "  button,  a  slightly  different 
button  being  worn  by  boys  judged  to  be  physically 
"  O.  K."  This  league  should  hear  talks,  now  and 
then,  on  subjects  related  to  physical  culture.  They 
should  be  told  of  things  that  will  aid  them  to 
improve,  and  make  their  chances  better  for  win- 
ning the  prize.  They  can  be  told  how  a  boy  who 
smokes  will  not  stop  growing,  but  he  will  not, 
in  all  probability,  grow  QUITE  AS  MUCH  as  the 
boy  who  does  not  smoke.  Again,  the  boy  who 
takes  walks  and  enters  into  outdoor  sports  in  the 
afternoons  and  on  Saturdays  will  be  likely  to 
improve  more  than  the  fellow  who  hangs  about 
corners  or  the  house.  Again,  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  boy  who  gets  ten  and  a  half  or  eleven 

46 


A  SPLENDID  THIRTEEN  YEAR  OLD  MODEL  EXHIBITED  TO  THE  BOYS  OF  THE  WOOD 
SCHOOL  TO  AID  THEM  IN  DEVELOPING  PHYSICAL  IDEALS 


THIRTEEN  YEAR  OLD  BOY  OF  A  SCHOOL        ADENOIDS,  ENLARGED  TONSILS,  BAD  TEETH 
IN  A  POOR  DISTRICT.     "CIGARETTE-  FLAT   CHEST,   UNDERDEVELOPED    MUS- 

FIEND"  PHYSIQUE  CLES.     NOT  AN  UNCOMMON  TYPE 


hours  of  sleep  is  likely  to  improve  more  than  the 
fellow  who  stays  up  late  and  gets  fewer  hours  of 
sleep.  Through  this  means,  you  see,  many  bad 
habits  can  be  attacked  with  good  hope  of  success. 
One  can  give  a  strong  impulse  against  everything 
unhealthy,  from  coffee  drinking  to  bad  habits  of 
various  kinds.  This  system  has  shown  itself  to  be 
very  effective  with  boys  of  all  classes  and  almost 
all  ages. 

GOVERNMENT 

What  would  happen  if  there  were  no  govern- 
ment. Let  the  children  discuss  the  result.  Prove 
the  necessity  for  government,  and  endeavor  to  give 
the  children  a  respect  for  the  laws  a  government 
makes,  emphasizing  the  fact  that  the  government 
stands  for  the  people,  and  that  it  is  the  people  who 
really  make  the  laws ;  and,  therefore,  the  people 
should  respect  them  and  those  elected  to  enforce 

them. 

SEWING 

The  girls  should  begin  some  practical  sewing, 
it  being  a  point  to  have  them  make  something 
useful. 

MANUAL  TRAINING 

The  boys  should  begin  practical  manual  train- 
ing at  this  time.  They  should  not  be  given  useless 
or  senseless  things  to  make,  but  real,  practical, 
useful  things,  giving  them  a  large  choice  in  the 
matter.  There  is  too  much  made  of  following 

47 


a  specific  succession  of  wood  working  exercises. 
Such  a  system  often  kills  what  might  otherwise 
be  a  real  interest.  Let  the  boys  make  what  they 
want,  in  reason — sleds,  kites,  boxes  and  the  like. 

NATURE  STUDY 

There  can  be  a  beginning  of  nature  study, 
starting  with  botany.  Each  child  might  have  a 
plant  box,  and  grow  plants  and  study  them.  They 
should  have  little  note  books,  in  which  common 
leaves  could  be  pasted.  They  could  be  taught  to 
recognize  all  the  common  trees. 

FOR  CHILDREN  TEN  AND  ELEVEN  YEARS  OLD 

Repetition  and  expansion  of  the  previous  sub- 
jects. Reading  and  compositions  might  be  made 
a  great  help.  Open  discussions  are  frequently  of 

value. 

THE  CITY 

How  cities  developed.  A  brief  history  of 
cities  like  Rome,  London  and  New  York  might 
be  given.  How  cities  are  governed.  A  city  offi- 
cial might  well  be  invited  to  talk  about  this  subject. 
Compositions  or  discussions  on  city  subjects,  com- 
prehensible to  children  of  this  age.  The  class  city, 
or  better,  the  school  city,  idea  should  be  well 
developed. 

THE  STATE 

A  brief  history  telling  how  the  states  were 
originally  formed. 

48 


THE  NATION 

The  children  should  be  given  an  idea  as  to 
the  different  forms  of  national  government,  taking 
as  examples,  perhaps,  Russia,  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States.  They  should  be  encouraged  to 
argue  on  the  respective  merits  of  each  form.  They 
should  be  led  to  develop  themselves  the  basic  rea- 
sons for  having  a  government.  They  should  obtain 
some  opinions  concerning  what  a  government 
owes  a  people  and  what  a  people  owes  a  govern- 
ment. 

IDEAL  CHARACTERS 

The  children  might  be  told  stories,  be  read 
stories,  or  they  might  read  stories  themselves  con- 
cerning some  ideal  characters,  as  Joan  of  Arc, 
Washington  and  Lincoln,  and  they  should  be 
encouraged  to  decide  for  themselves  why  these 
characters  were  great. 

MANNERS 

Continued  insistence  upon  good  manners, 
with  occasional  explanations  of  the  reason  for 
them. 

TIME 

Value  of  time.  This  is  a  development  of  a 
former  lesson  on  Punctuality.  Discussions  can  be 
had  on  the  value  of  being  on  time,  and  why  time 
should  not  be  wasted. 

49 


KNOWLEDGE 

Value  of  a  "working  knowledge"  of  matters 
connected  with  everyday  life.  A  knowledge  of 
arithmetic  is  necessary  to  be  successful  in  almost 
any  business  and  in  many  trades.  A  knowledge  of 
English  is  necessary  for  anyone  going  into  busi- 
ness, or  who  wishes  eventually  to  become  a  fore- 
man, and  not  merely  a  low  paid  laborer.  One 
must  know  how  to  write  good  English  and  to  write 
a  good  hand.  The  children  could  argue  concern- 
ing the  different  things  one  must  know  in  order  to 
do  well  in  different  occupations. 

PHYSICAL  IDEALS 

A  continuation  of  the  moral  training  through 
the  interest  in  physical  development — especially 
for  boys. 

HOUSEWIFERY 

This  idea  is  to  act  as  a  means  for  giving  the 
girls  moral  training  as  the  physical  culture  idea  is 
for  the  boys.  The  best  method  is  the  one  now 
used  in  connection  with  the  moral  training  work 
in  the  Thomas  Wood  School,  of  Philadelphia,  for 
instance.  The  idea  is  to  obtain,  if  possible,  a  house, 
near  the  school,  which  is  representative  of  the 
kind  of  house  from  which  a  majority  of  the  chil- 
dren of  a  particular  school  come.  If  a  house  can 
not  be  obtained,  perhaps  a  few  rooms  can.  As  a 
last  resort,  possibly  a  room  or  two  can  be  provided 

50 


THREE  PENNY        DINNER 
AGNEW  SCHOOL,   PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


HOUSE    CHOSEN     FOR     HOUSEKEEPING     (CENTER)     IN     CONNECTION     WITH     THE 
MORAL    EDUCATION  WORK  OF  THE  THOMAS  WOOD   SCHOOL,    PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


in  the  school  itself.  This  house  is  to  be  furnished 
as  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  could  furnish 
a  house,  if  they  know  how.  Simplicity  and  taste 
are  the  keynotes.  The  girls  of  the  school  ten  years 
old  and  older  learn  to  look  after  the  house,  clean 
it,  and  so  on.  In  it  they  are  taught  how  to  plan 
a  simple,  healthful  menu,  which  is  in  keeping  with 
what  their  future  means  are  likely  to  be.  They 
are  taught,  by  actual  experience,  how  to  purchase 
the  provisions  for  these  meals — a  necessary  point,  as 
the  poor  are  cheated  abominably,  and  further- 
more, do  not  know  how  to  buy  economically. 
Then  they  are  taught  how  to  prepare  the  meals. 
The  plan  is  to  have  a  caretaker  in  each  little  house 
who  has  small  children.  If  such  cannot  be  had, 
then  an  effort  is  made  to  have  infants  brought  in 
from  outside,  on  occasion,  so  that  these  girls  may 
learn  something  concerning  the  care  of  infants  and 
of  young  children.  This  is  particularly  necessary 
for  girls  who  are  soon  to  go  into  factories,  shops, 
etc.,  for  they  generally  marry  at  about  nineteen  or 
twenty  years  of  age,  and  know  almost  nothing 
either  concerning  housekeeping  or  the  care  of 
children.  Using  this  "home"  idea  as  a  lever,  the 
girls  can  receive  lessons  and  talks  which  will  finally 
give  them  an  appreciation  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
sanctity  of  the  home,  and  the  sanctity  of  mother- 
hood. By  actual  trial  this  plan  has  been  found 
most  successful. 

51 


FOR  CHILDREN  TWELVE  AND  THIRTEEN 
YEARS  OLD 

LAW  AND  ORDER 

A  continuation  of  previous  lessons  on  this 
subject.  The  children  can  have  debates  and  write 
compositions,  perhaps  competitive,  on  why  there 
have  to  be  laws,  and  what  must  be  done  in  cities 
in  order  to  have  safety  and  opportunity.  It  is 
well  to  have  some  representative  of  the  police 
come  and  lecture  to  the  children  on  how  the 
children  and  police  can  co-operate.  The  average 
child  looks  upon  a  policeman  as  a  hereditary 
adversary.  The  child  must  be  given  a  different 
opinion,  which  will  cause  him  to  look  upon  the 
officer  as  a  necessary  part  of  our  civilization. 

POLITICAL  MORALITY 

The  children  should  be  led  to  see  that  a  man 
who  uses  a  political  position  wrongfully  is  a  traitor 
to  his  trust  and  to  the  people  who  made  him  their 
representative  in  his  position.  They  should  have 
short  historical  sketches  to  show  how  corrupt 
government  precedes  a  downfall.  Some  children 
might  look  up  and  report  upon  the  downfall  of 
Greece  and  others  upon  the  downfall  of  Rome. 

COMMERCIAL  MORALITY 

The  children  should  be  led  into  discussions 
concerning  unclean  business  methods,  bringing  up 

52 


the  false  measure,  adulteration  of  foods,  the  value 
of  competition  and  other  similar  subjects — sug- 
gestions for  which  may  be  had  from  almost  any 
daily  paper.  It  might  be  an  idea  to  consider  appro- 
priate questions  of  this  character  as  described  by 
the  press. 

CLEAN  CHARACTER 

The  clean  character  is  the  happier  and  the 
more  efficient  than  the  unclean.  The  dishonest 
business  man,  the  dishonest  workman  and  the 
dishonest  public  servant,  ultimately  suffer  for  their 
dishonesty.  All  really  great  men  are  men  of  clean 
character.  It  might  be  said  that  a  boy  or  girl 
having  an  unclean  mind  almost  always  shows  infe- 
rior work  in  lessons,  and  is  likely  to  fail  altogether 
finally.  Mental  uncleanliness  is  a  sign  of  weak- 
ness. 

NATURAL  HISTORY 

Beginning  of  lessons  wherein  sex  is  concerned. 
Botany  and  the  study  of  animals. 

IDEAL  CHARACTERS 

Development,  by  means  of  talks,  stories  and 
discussions  of  ideals  of  strong,  clean  men  and 
women. 

BODY  AND  MIND 

Lessons  to  show  that  an  unhealthy  body  can 
cause  the  mind  to  be  unhealthy,  and  that  an 
unhealthy  mind  can  cause  moral  unhealthiness. 

53 


Also,  as  has  been  intimated  before,  an  unclean 
mind  can  have  a  bad  effect  upon  the  soul  and  the 
body.  A  boy  who  is  unclean  minded  is  generally 
no  athlete.  One  who  thinks  of  gloomy  and  un- 
pleasant things  will  become  gloomy  and  unpleas- 
ant, and  possibly  unhealthy. 

THE  HOME 

A  continuation  of  the  "housewifery"  men- 
tioned before,  an  attempt  being  made  to  develop 
good  taste  in  dress  as  well  as  neatness.  Practical 
sewing  with  exhibitions. 

PHYSICAL  IDEALS 

A  continuation  of  the  physical  culture  interest. 
The  boys  should  be  taught  how  different  things 
affect  their  approaching  a  physical  ideal,  such 
things  as  bed  time,  diet,  exercise,  games  and  sports. 
They  should  have  plain  talks  upon  the  value  of, 
and  necessity  for,  clean  habits,  preferably  by  some 
outside  speaker.  Co-operative  sports  should  be 
developed  as  boys  approach  adolescence. 

INDIVIDUALITY 

Everything  in  reason  should  be  done  to 
encourage  the  development  of  individualities.  This 
may  be  done  by  means  of  different  methods.  One 
might  be  the  so-called  "  dramatic  reading"  or  story 
acting,  in  which  each  child  acts  in  pantomime  what 

54 


is  being  read,  or  in  which  a  child,  by  impromptu 
pantomime,  gives  his  idea  of  a  certain  character  or 
incident.  For  instance,  the  writer  has  seen  two 
boys,  without  preparation,  choose  their  subject, 
and  give  a  silent  representation  of  Washington 
planning  an  attack  on  New  York.  Another  rep- 
resented a  person  waiting  on  a  corner  for  some  one 
who  had  made  an  appointment,  but  was  late.  The 
impatience  expressed,  the  disgust,  the  giving  up  of 
hope  and  the  final  relief  at  the  sight  of  the  one 
expected  was  excellently  done.  The  actors  in 
these  two  examples  were  about  thirteen  years  old. 
This  work,  the  writer  understands,  is  a  regular  part 
of  the  school  schedule  in  Kansas  City,  Mo.  Other 
means  can  be  used.  Originality  of  ideas  or  of 
expressions  should  be  made  much  of. 

LIVES 

The  study  of  the  lives  of  a  few  great  men, 
pointing  out  the  excellent  qualities  and  discussing 
the  bad  ones,  with  their  result. 

FOR  CHILDREN  FOURTEEN  YEARS  OLD 
RESPECT 

A  continuation  of  an  early  lesson.  Now  the 
children  themselves  can  discuss  and  decide  why 
special  respect  should  be  shown  to  parents,  teach- 
ers, elected  authorities  and  to  age. 

55 


SELF-CONTROL 

The  rights  of  others  and  school  discipline  can 
be  taken  up  under  this  head.  At  this  age,  school 
conduct  can  be  discussed  with  the  children  and 
self-government  successfully  introduced. 

MANNERS 

Repeating  and  emphasizing  a  former  lesson. 

APPEARANCE 

How  appearance  reflects  character.  No  sin 
in  having  worn  clothes — the  sin  is  in  having  them 
dirty  or  ragged.  Necessity  for  cleanliness.  With 
girls,  a  special  effort  should  be  made,  by  means  of 
talks,  example  and  by  photographs,  to  show  that 
simplicity  of  attire  and  decoration  is  more  beautiful 
than  gaudy  ornamentation. 

TRUST 

This  is  a  development  of  the  Truth  and  Hon- 
esty ideas.  All  kinds  of  trusts  should  be  discussed 
— as  public  trust  in  public  officers,  trust  that 
parents  should  expect  of  children  and  the  like. 

DIGNITY 

A  dignified  person  is  much  more  respected 
and  looked  up  to  than  an  undignified  one.  A  per- 
son who  uses  profane  or  obscene  language  when 
annoyed  or  tried  not  only  lacks  all  dignity,  but 
displays  ignorance  of  an  adequate  vocabulary.  A 

56 


person  can  be  angry  and  dignified  at  the  same  time, 
but  this  requires  self-control  and  self-respect. 

WORDS 

Discuss  why  one  should  be  careful  in  a  choice 
of  words.  Careless  choice  generally  betokens  a 
careless  character. 

MONEY— USE  AND  ABUSE 

Money  represents  labor.  As  it  represents  so 
serious  a  thing,  it  should  be  used  intelligently  and 
with  care.  Used  wastefully — as  in  extravagance, 
or  wrongfully — as  in  gambling,  shows  ignorance 
of  what  money  really  stands  for.  There  are  many 
questions  relating  to  the  use  of  money  which  chil- 
dren of  this  age  can  work  out  themselves. 

HISTORY 

Rise  and  fall  of  nations.  Have  different  chil- 
dren look  up  different  nations  —  India,  Persia, 
Greece,  Rome — and  show  how  moral  decadence 
of  the  people  preceded  the  fall  of  the  nation. 
Bring  out  the  point  that  morality  can  be  made 
a  matter  of  patriotism. 

LIVES 

Make  a  careful  study  of  the  lives,  say,  of  Wash- 
ington, Lincoln,  Franklin  and  possibly  Socrates. 

BODY  AND  MIND 

Emphasis  and  repetition.     See  former  lesson. 

57 


SEX 

Beginnings  of  lessons  concerning  sexual  hy- 
giene, preferably  given  by  some  one  not  directly 
connected  with  the  school.  The  boys  and  girls  in 
coeducational  schools  taken  separately.  It  should 
be  made  a  special  point  to  give  almost  a  religious 
aspect  to  the  whole  subject. 

GOVERNMENT 

Study  of  our  form  of  government.  If  possi- 
ble, have  government  officials  speak  to  the  assem- 
bled children  of  this  age  and  over  concerning 
their  special  departments.  The  children  should 
have  open  discussions  in  which  they  could  take  up 
what  attitude  they  should  have  toward  lawbreakers 
and  the  representatives  of  the  law. 

THE  CITY 

What  makes  a  city.  What  a  city  should  con- 
tain—  for  education,  for  administration,  for  labor 
and  the  like.  How  a  city  should  be  planned. 
Have  competitions,  either  by  means  of  drawings 
or  by  working  with  miniature  buildings  and  streets, 
in  city  planning. 

RIGHTS  OF  OTHERS 

Bring  out  that  there  are  not  only  property 
rights,  but  action  rights.  Discuss  what  kinds  of 
actions  we  have  a  right  to  interfere  with  or  sup- 
press, and  what  kinds  of  property  require  public 
supervision. 

58 


PHYSICAL  IDEALS 

Continued  work  along  physical  lines,  as  out- 
lined. 

THE  HOME 

Continued  study  of  "housewifery"  and  allied 
subjects. 

READING 

The  boys  might  read  "Tom  Brown  at  Rugby," 
Kipling's  "Cap tains  Courageous,"  "  The  Odyssey," 
"  Scottish  Chiefs." 

FOR  CHILDREN  FIFTEEN  YEARS  OLD 
CONDUCT 

Discussions  of  things  which  affect  conduct — as 
conscience,  ideals,  obligations,  virtues,  necessities. 
There  should  be  efforts  to  make  clear  the  meaning 
of  each  one  of  the  above  terms,  and  the  more  the 
children  themselves  develop  these  meanings  the 
better. 

SOCIETY 

Relations  between  individuals  and  society — 
what  one  owes  one's  government,  one's  employer, 
one's  employee,  one's  friends,  one's  companions, 
one's  relatives. 

SEX 

Continued  study  of  sexual  hygiene  appropri- 
ate for  the  age.  The  rewards  of  clean  living  and 
the  penalties  for  immorality.  Marriage  should  be 

59 


shown  to  be  a  sacred  relation,  a  matter  of  most 
serious  import,  not  only  to  the  individuals  con- 
cerned, but  to  the  nation  and  the  race.  Again, 
morality  can  be  shown  to  have  a  patriotic  signifi- 
cance. 

THE  MOTHER 

Continuation  and  expansion  of  the  study  of 
the  Home  as  previously  outlined.  A  topic  now 
can  be  "  Mother  and  Child/' 

GOVERNMENT 

This  is  a  good  age  for  the  effective  study  of 
history.  Dwell  upon  the  development  of  govern- 
ment. 

PHYSICAL  IDEAL 

Continuation  of  past  lessons.  The  boys  should 
have  clear  lectures  on  the  value  of  chastity  and 
the  results  following  its  lack. 

LAW 

Reading  of  Plato's  "Crito"  and  "Phaedo,"  as 
in  a  booklet  published  in  1903  by  the  Century 
Company,  Jowett's  translation. 


60 


PART  III 

WORKING  CHILDREN 

CALAMITOUS  in  its  results  has  been  the 
feeling  that  a  school's  responsibility  ends 
entirely,  and  that  a  town's  or  city's  respon- 
sibility nearly  ends,  when  a  child  leaves  school  to 
work  for  a  living.  We  cannot  go  into  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  conditions  under  which,  perhaps,  a 
majority  of  city  children  are  working,  conditions 
affecting  the  girls  even  more  than  the  boys.  There 
can  be  little  doubt,  first  of  all,  that  the  average  fac- 
tory girl  and  the  average  store  girl  is  underpaid. 
This  is  not  only  true  in  the  populous  Eastern  cities, 
where  matters  are  complicated  by  the  presence  of 
vast  numbers  of  immigrants,  who  must  find  work 
at  any  price,  but  the  same  condition  obtains  in  the 
more  purely  American  cities  through  the  middle 
West.  A  very  typical  example  might  be  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  where  a  most  careful  study  of  con- 
ditions has  been  made.  The  report  of  the  Vice 
Commission  in  Chicago  is  undoubtedly  of  great 
value,  but  then  Chicago  is  hardly  a  typical  Amer- 
ican city.  A  report  allowing,  perhaps,  a  more 
general  application  is  that  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Welfare  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  for  the  year  April, 

61 


1910,  to  April,  1911.  The  section  studying  the 
Social  Evil  in  Kansas  City  is  valuable  in  that  it  not 
only  considers  local  conditions,  but  their  relation 
to  general  conditions.  The  following  paragraph 
is  quoted  from  page  130 :  "  It  has  been  conclu- 
sively proved  that  $7.00  per  week  is  the  lowest  to 
afford  decent  subsistence  for  a  woman.  Some 
authorities  place  this  at  $9.00.  It  has  also  been 
conclusively  proved,  and  necessarily  follows,  that 
industries  paying  not  more  than  $4.00,  $5.00  or 
even  $6.00  per  week  to  competent  women  em- 
ployees are  really  parasitic  and  a  grave  menace  to 
the  American  home."  [The  italics  are  the  writer's.] 
On  the  same  page  we  read  that  a  majority  of  the 
girls  found  in  Kansas  City  houses  of  ill-fame, 
received  less  than  $6.00  before  they  gave  way  to 
a  combination  of  economic  pressure  and  desire 
for  pleasure,  and  fell,  as  thousands  of  their  sisters 
fall  each  year.  At  fourteen  years  of  age,  girls  are 
permitted  to  leave  school  and  to  work  for  their  liv- 
ing. In  Kansas  City  it  was  found  that  55  per  cent, 
of  the  girls  mentioned  were  guilty  of  their  first  open 
immorality  before  or  during  the  seventeenth  year. 
Cause  and  effect  seem  very  clear,  do  they  not  ? 

A  few  more  quotations  from  another  excellent 
Kansas  City  publication  will  make  our  point  still 
stronger.  This  is  a  booklet  entitled  "  The  Kansas 
City  Child;  a  Handbook  of  the  Child  Welfare 
Exhibit."  This  was  published  in  the  fall  of  1911. 

62 


This  booklet  has  a  chapter  on  "  Industrial  Condi- 
tions," which  is  well  worth  reading.  In  this 
chapter  is  recorded  a  study  of  the  wages  of  girl 
workers.  On  page  43  we  read  the  following : 
"  Of  573  girls  employed  in  two  stores  in  Kansas 
City,  32  per  cent,  received  $5.00  a  week  or  less ; 
51  per  cent,  received  $6.00  a  week  or  less.  Care- 
ful inquiries  and  estimates  demonstrate  that  the 
least  weekly  wage  which  will  support  a  girl  as  her 
necessities  dictate,  and  according  to  the  standard 
of  dress,  ets.,  demanded  by  her  employers,  is  $9.00 
per  week.  This  sum  or  more  is  received  by  only 
11  per  cent,  of  the  573  girls  instanced.  In  order 
to  live  on  less,  a  working  girl  must  be  supported, 
in  part,  by  her  family,  or  so  live  as  to  injure  her 
health,  impair  her  efficiency,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  weaken  her  resistance  to  the  temptations 
waiting  to  ensnare  her."  A  great  number  of 
working  girls  cannot  live  at  home.  With  their 
low  wages  they  find  it  necessary  to  live  in  cheap 
boarding  houses.  We  read  again,  on  page  44 : 
"The  direct  connection  between  this  condition 
and  prostitution  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  of  300 
white  prostitutes  interviewed,  145  began  their 
shameful  life  while  living  in  boarding  or  lodging 
houses.  The  great  fact  which  cannot  be  shunned 
is  that  working  girls  must  receive  enough  com- 
pensation for  their  work  to  enable  them  to  live 
healthfully  and  decently." 

63 


It  must  not  be  thought  for  a  moment  that 
these  conditions  are  at  all  peculiar  to  Kansas  City. 
In  fact  it  is  very  probable  that  affairs  in  that 
city  deserve  less  criticism  than  in  a  majority  of  the 
large  cities  of  the  country,  for  the  reason  that  the 
population  there  is  more  purely  American  than  is 
generally  the  case,  and  because  there  is  no  over- 
crowding, such  as  is  caused  by  great  influxes  of 
immigrants.  The  valuable  series  of  articles  by 
Jane  Addams,  beginning  in  the  November,  1911, 
number  of  McClure's  Magazine,  show  how  gen- 
eral and  how  serious  these  conditions  are. 

Summing  up  the  working  girl  problem,  we 
can  say  that,  first  of  all,  working  girls  are  usually 
underpaid.  This  being  so,  many  must  live  in 
cheap  lodging  houses  and  spend  every  cent  they 
receive  on  the  most  vitally  necessary  expenses. 
These  girls  work  almost  to  exhaustion  through 
the  day,  and  when  night  comes  they  have  few 
legitimate  means  for  enjoying  relaxation  or  pleas- 
ure. Play  is  just  as  necessary  for  the  working 
girl  and  boy  as  for  their  younger  sister  and  brother. 
It  is  natural  for  them  to  desire  a  little  "fun/'  as 
they  express  it.  And  there  is  little  by  way  of  "fun" 
open  to  them  but  the  sometimes  suggestive 
moving  picture  "show"  and  the  frequently  danger- 
ous dance  hall.  Underpaid  young  men,  who 
cannot  afford  homes  of  their  own,  and  underpaid 
girls,  desiring  a  natural  relief  from  their  daily 

64 


grind,  meet  in  these  places  with  frequent  disaster 
to  both.  And  not  only  so,  but  the  picture  halls 
and  dance  halls  are  only  too  often  the  hunting 
grounds  of  cadets  on  search  for  victims  necessary 
to  make  up  the  yearly  sacrifice  to  immorality. 
Underpay  and  lack  of  legitimate  amusement  are 
among  the  basic  causes  for  a  vast  deal  of  misery, 
vice  and  crime ;  causes  which,  at  this  day,  are 
fortunately  beginning  to  be  realized. 

The  question  may  arise,  What  has  all  this  to 
do  with  the  moral  development  of  school  children, 
and  where  do  the  schools  come  in  ?  This  is  not 
a  difficult  question  to  answer.  First  of  all,  if  the 
schools  made  a  special  point  of  developing  moral 
stamina,  from  the  time  a  child  entered  school  till 
the  time  of  leaving  it,  working  girls  and  boys 
would  be  enabled  to  make  a  better  fight  of  it,  and, 
knowing  a  few  fundamental  principles,  could 
resist  their  temptations  and  use  their  means  with 
more  efficiency.  But  this  would  not  be  enough. 
Optimism  hopes  that  the  day  approaches  when 
each  worker  will  be  able  to  receive  a  living  wage. 
That  they  do  not  all  receive  such  wage  now  is  not 
necessarily  the  fault  of  individual  employers,  but 
of  great  economic  conditions  which  are  not  to  be 
remedied  in  a  moment.  In  the  meantime,  there 
are  things  which  may  be  done  to  ease  the  pressure 
upon  the  working  girls  and  boys,  and  here  the 
schools  can  do  much.  Philadelphia  is  leading  the 

65 


way  in  this  matter.  In  this  city,  in  1910  and  1911, 
ten  public  schools,  chosen  for  their  location,  were 
opened  regularly  in  the  evenings  as  social  centers. 
This  is  considered  only  a  beginning.  The  object 
is  to  provide  pleasure  and  benefit  for  working 
children,  classes  in  different  matters  for  those  who 
desire  them,  meetings  for  mothers,  which  con- 
sider such  subjects  as  cooking  and  the  care  of 
children,  and  even  meetings  for  men,  who  may 
discuss  what  interests  them.  The  work  of  one 
such  school  center  might  well  be  considered  in 
detail.  The  one  described  is  in  the  Thomas  Wood 
School,  the  work  being  carried  on  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  principal.  The  "classes"  are  as  follows  : 
1.  Miniature  home,  equipment,  set  of  house 
furnishing.  All  branches  of  housework,  24  chil- 
dren. 2.  Kindergarten,  80  children,  2  workers. 
3.  English,  14  Polish  men  and  women,  1  worker 
(Principal).  4.  Sewing,  1  worker,  30  girls,  aprons. 
5.  Sewing,  1  worker,  30  girls,  aprons.  6.  Sewing, 
25  girls,  aprons.  7.  Sewing,  1  worker,  15  women 
(15  to  18  years  old),  shirtwaists  and  skirts.  8. 
Sewing,  1  worker,  25  girls,  aprons.  9.  Games,  1 
worker,  40  children.  10.  Five  classes  for  boys  in 
Manual  Training,  Reed,  Raffia  and  Hammock 
making.  11.  Cooking  demonstrations.  12.  Drill 
in  Music,  from  8.45  to  9.30  P.  M.  Weekly  drill 
for  mothers,  subject :  "Care  of  Infants,"  under  the 
auspices  of  "  Baby  Alliance,"  in  charge  of  25 

66 


mothers.  Monthly  entertainment.  Daily  lunch- 
eons, 10.30,  one  cent;  12.00  M.,  three  cents. 
350  children.  Number  of  sessions,  20.  Cost  of 
operation,  $222.50. 

REMARKS. — The  Principal  wishes  to  have 
three  sessions  each  week,  next  year — one  night  for 
boys,  one  for  girls  and  one  for  entertainment. 

A  letter  written  to  the  President  of  the  Home 
and  School  League  of  Philadelphia,  an  organiza- 
tion largely  responsible  for  the  development  of 
this  excellent  work,  by  a  district  superintendent  of 
schools,  is  well  worth  reading  in  this  connection : 

May  15,  1911. 

To  the  President  of  the  Home  and  School  League : 

I  beg  to  report  that  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  larger  use 
of  the  ^  school  buildings  of  Philadelphia  continues  to  increase. 

Constant  encouragement  by  the  Superintendent  of  Schools 
has  brought  about  greater  interest  on  the  part  of  school  officials, 
the  Board  of  Education  and  the  public  generally.  As  evidence,  I 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  new  or  remodeled  buildings 
the  Superintendent  of  Buildings  now  makes  provision  for  large 
halls  which  may  be  used  not  only  for  play  rooms,  but  also  for 
assembly  halls,  where  the  public  may  gather  for  recreation  or  for 
strictly  educational  purposes ;  the  Board  of  Education  approving 
the  slight  additional  expense  which  is  involved.  Members  of 
the  Board  are  giving  more  and  more  of  their  time  to  the  public 
meetings  which  are  held  in  the  school  buildings.  Principals  and 
other  officials  show  their  interest  by  throwing  open  their  buildings 
and  yards  for  frequent  public  meetings.  In  my  district  alone 
(the  Ninth)  there  have  been  held  since  the  opening  of  schools  in 
September  eighty-five  public  meetings,  with  a  reported  aggregate 
attendance  of  over  11,000. 

Very  truly, 

MILTON  C.  COOPER,  Chairman. 

67 


Here  we  have,  perhaps,  a  partial  solution  of 
our  great  problem.  If  the  public  schools  through- 
out the  country,  and  especially  in  the  crowded 
city  districts,  were  turned  over,  in  the  evenings,  to 
the  working  girls  and  boys,  and  the  working 
young  women  and  young  men — if,  in  these  build- 
ings they  could  receive  plenty  of  healthy  enter- 
tainment and  helpful  teaching  for  those  who 
desire  it,  many  lives  would  be  made  brighter  and 
a  vast  number  would  be  saved  from  the  common 
downfall  resulting  from  economic  pressure  and  its 
consequent  preventing  of  indulgence  in  a  natural 
and  necessary  desire  for  pleasure  and  relaxation. 

The  Annual  Report  of  The  Home  and 
School  League  of  Philadelphia,  for  1910-1911 
gives  an  idea  how  this  may  be  done. 

BOOKS 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  suggest  books  appro- 
priate for  any  particular  age,  for  the  reason  that 
children  greatly  differ  in  maturity,  at  the  same  age, 
and  what  one  child  might  enjoy  another  might  not 
comprehend,  and  another  might  consider  merely 
a  bore.  The  following  list  pretends  only  to  be 
suggestive,  indicating  a  type  of  book  that  might 
be  appreciated  by  children  of  the  ages  mentioned. 
The  writer  has  not  had  a  great  acquaintance  with 
books  suitable  for  very  young  children,  but  has 
studied  carefully  the  tastes  of  older  children. 

68 


This  list  may  be  criticized  because  some  of  the 
books  are  not  written  by  "standard"  writers,  and 
because  adventure  stories  seem  to  predominate  at 
certain  ages.  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  when  the  adventure  spirit  develops  in  children, 
it  must  be  directed  and  not  suppressed.  Suppres- 
sion may  lead  to  outbreaks  later  in  life,  while  the 
reading  of  proper  adventure  stories,  coupled  with 
much  out-of-door  life,  will  provide  a  healthful 
outlet  for  this  natural  impulse.  As  to  standard 
authors,  unfortunately  most  standard  authors  have 
had  something  to  do  besides  writing  for  children, 
a  duty,  however,  which  less  famous  writers  seem 
to  have  performed  admirably.  This  list  is  supposed 
to  be  anything  but  exhaustive : 

Eight  and  Nine  Years 

Lord  Fauntleroy Burnett 

Sara  Crewe Burnett 

Andersen's  Fairy  Tales. 
Grimm's  Fairy  Tales. 

Ten  Years 

King  of  the  Golden  River Ruskin 

Little  Men Alcott 

The  Prince  and  the  Pauper Twain 

Eleven  Years 

First  Jungle  Book Kipling 

Wonder  Book Hawthorne 

Eight  Cousins Alcott 

Dory  Mates Munro 

Tom  Sawyer Twain 

Rip  Van  Winkle Irving 

69 


Twelve  Years 

Flamingo  Feather Munro 

Wild  Animals  I  Have  Known .   Seton 

A  Christmas  Carol Dickens 

Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner Coleridge 

Robinson  Crusoe Defoe 

Men  of  Iron Pyle 

Thirteen  Years 

In  Freedom's  Cause Henty 

Two  Little  Savages Seton 

Last  of  the  Mohicans Cooper 

Vision  of  Sir  Launfal Lowell 

American  Boys'  Handy  Book Beard 

Ivanhoe Scott 

Fourteen  Years 

Bullfinch's  Age  of  Chivalry. 

Tom  Brown's  School  Days Hughes 

Captains  Courageous Kipling 

Two  Years  Before  the  Mast Dana 

Gareth  and  Lynette Tennyson 

Talisman Scott 

Fifteen  Years 

Kidnapped Stevenson 

Crito  and  Phaedo Plato,  Jowett's  Translation 

Odyssey Homer,  Butcher  £ff  Lang's  Translation 

A  good  history  of  Greece. 

Scottish  Chiefs Porter 

Plutarch's  Lives. 

Lorna  Doone Blackmore 

Tale  of  Two  Cities Dickens 

70 


Sixteen  Years 

David  Copperfield Dickens 

Les  Miserables Hugo 

The  Crisis Churchill 

The  Gladiators Melville 

The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth Reade 

The  Bible. 
Froissart's  Chronicles. 

Henry  Esmond Thackeray 

Jane  Eyre Bronte 


71 


APPENDIX 

GAMES  AND  PLAYS 

WE  cannot  go  into  the  psychologic  reasons 
which  guided  the  writer  in  arranging  the 
following   list  of  games  and  plays.    For 
those  who  are  interested  in  the  scientific  side  of 
the  matter,  it  is  suggested  that  they  read  the  fol- 
lowing works: 

"Education  by  Plays  and  Games,"  G.  E.  Johnson,  Ginn  &  Co. 
44  Psychological,    Pedagogical  and   Religious  Aspects   of  Group 

Games,"    Luther    Gulick,    M.  D.,    Pedagogical  Seminary, 

Vol.  VI. 
"Amusements  of  Worcester  School  Children,"  T.  R.  Cosgrove, 

Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  VI. 
"Adolescence,"  Stanley  Hall,  Vol.  I,  p.  216. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  children  in  their 
play  seem  to  show  three  stages  of  development. 
The  first  stage  lasts  till  about  the  seventh  or  eighth 
birthday.  It  is  characterized  by  being  highly  indi- 
vidualistic. The  child  is  very  self-centered,  and 
does  not  require  the  presence  of  others  for  his 
play.  The  second  stage  lasts  till  about  the  twelfth 
or  thirteenth  birthday,  and  is  characterized  by  a 
need  for  the  presence  of  others.  There  is  little 
co-operation  with  others,  but  others  are  necessary 

72 


for  the  competitive  spirit  that  develops  in  this 
stage.  The  children  still  act  as  individuals,  but  feel 
the  necessity  for  the  aid  of  others,  as  in  simple 
games  like  "tag"  and  other  chasing  games.  The 
third  stage  lasts  well  into  adolescence  and  is  char- 
acterized not  only  by  a  high  development  of  the 
competitive  idea,  but  also  by  the  important  appear- 
ance of  co-operation  shown  in  the  formation  of 
"  gangs,"  societies,  and  the  interest  in  co-operative 
sports. 

In  the  first  stage,  play  may  consist  of  action  of 
the  large  groups  of  muscles  and  in  the  acquiring 
of  accurate  muscular  movements.  In  the  second, 
competition  with  others  in  muscular  sports  and 
games  and  a  development  of  the  constructive 
instinct  are  important  considerations.  In  the  third 
stage,  highly  specialized  muscular  movements  and 
games  requiring  co-operation,  submergence  of 
self,  accuracy  and  concentration  are  typical.  These 
ideas  have  been  kept  in  mind  in  designing  the  fol- 
lowing table : 

A  LIST  OF  GAMES  AND  PLAYS  FOR  CHILDREN 

OF  SCHOOL  AGE 
FIRST  STAGE 
Six  and  Seven  Years 

Skipping,  jumping,  running  and  simple  throwing  games. 
Simple  individual  dance  movements  to  music.  Learning 
names  of  things  by  playing  with  Noah's  arks,  toy  farms, 
stores,  kitchens,  etc. 

73 


SECOND  STAGE 

Eight  Years 

Ring  toss,  tenpins,  battledore  and  shuttlecock;  beginnings  of 
chasing  games,  like  "tag."  Continuing  of  skipping,  running 
and  throwing  games. 

Nine  Years 

Continuing  of  strenuous  physical  games,  jumping,  chasing 
and  the  like.  Pretending  games — Indian,  "  grown-ups,"  cow- 
boys, farmers  and  so  on.  Swinging,  wrestling  and  simple 
gymnastics.  Making  things,  as  pasteboard  houses,  houses 
of  blocks,  etc. 

Ten  Years 

Chasing,  hunting  and  hiding  games.  Prisoner's  base,  hare 
and  hounds,  fox  and  geese,  etc.  Constructive  toys — toy 
railroads,  making  toy  houses,  kites,  etc.  Beginning  of  prac- 
tical manual  training.  Doll  age  for  girls  and  ball  games 
begun  for  boys. 

Eleven  Years 

Development  of  throwing  games,  attempts  at  base  ball. 
Running  games  and  hopping  games  continued.  Bows  and 
arrows. 

Twelve  Years 

Base  ball  approaches  co-operative  stage;  interest  in  simple 
field  sports.  Great  doll  age.  Wild  west,  Indians,  advent- 
ures, etc. 

THIRD  STAGE 

Thirteen  Years 

Real  beginning  of  co-operative  plays  for  boys.  Girls  rarely 
care  for  this  type  of  play.  Great  interest  in  house  playing 
for  girls.  Basket  ball  for  both.  Base  ball  and  beginning  of 
foot  ball  for  boys.  Checkers  and  similar  games. 

74 


Fourteen  Years 

Base  ball,  foot  ball,  more  specialized  field  sports,  gymnastics, 
boxing,  counting  games  like  dominoes,  etc.  Chess.  Experi- 
ments, in  simple  chemistry  for  instance.  Photography. 
Various  table  games.  Dancing. 

The  following  are  games  which  are  likely  to 
develop  certain  qualities : 

1.  Requiring  muscular  actions  of  some  complexity. 

Cutting  out  paper  soldiers  or  dolls. 

Battledore  and  shuttlecock. 

Tiddlywinks. 

Pillowdex. 

Ring  toss. 

Croquet. 

Marbles. 

Bows  and  arrows,  and  other  shooting  games. 

2.  Similar  games,  requiring  practice  in  counting. 

Dominoes. 

Tenpins  and  bowling. 

Fish  pond  and  similar  games  requiring  great  dexterity. 

Dice  games,  such  as  parchesi. 

3.  Toys  encouraging  "constructive"  work. 

Colorgraphy — colored  paper  to  be  cut  into  shapes  follow- 
ing set  designs,  such  as  houses,  automobiles,  etc. 

Harbutt's  Plasticine — a  form  of  clay  that  can  be  used  in 
modeling. 

Blocks,  preferably  made  of  cement,  for  making  diminutive 
houses,  forts,  bridges,  etc. 

Picture  puzzles. 

Mechano — pieces  of  sheet  metal  of  various  shapes,  small 
metal  wheels,  levers,  etc.,  with  which  many  mechanical 
playthings  can  be  made.  An  excellent  toy. 

Manual  training,  tool  box  and  work  bench. 
75 


4.     Games  training  attention,  memory  and  reason. 
Checkers. 

Complicated  card  games. 
Chess. 

Bibliography  of  books  concerning  reading 
for  children : 

Selected  Books  for  Boys,  by  C.  B.  Kern,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Press, 
New  York,  1907. 

A  List  of  Good  Stories  to  Tell  to  Children  Under  Twelve  Years 
of  Age,  with  a  brief  account  of  the  story  hour  conducted  by 
the  Children's  Department.  Carnegie  Library,  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  1906.  5  cents. 

Stories  and  Story-Telling,  in  Moral  and  Religious  Education,  by 
Edward  P.  St.  John,  A.M.  The  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston, 
Mass.,  February,  1910. 

Other  books  by  the  same  author : 

BILLY;  His  SUMMER  AWAKENING.  Published  by 
Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.  Price, 
$1.50. 

"By  the  end  of  this  book,  Billy  has  become  a  hero  worth 
following  through  more  stories  than  one,  for  this  is  the  first  vol- 
ume of  the  *  Billy  '  series.  His  exciting  experiences  on  land  and 
sea,  and  the  lessons  he  learns,  makes  this  an  admirable  book  for 
boys." — The  Watchman,  Boston,  Mass. 

"The  spoiled  son  of  a  wealthy  father  develops  into  a  'sissy.' 
The  father  sees  the  error  of  his  ways  and  provides  for  a  season  of 
roughing  it  on  sea  and  in  the  mountains.  The  way  the  lad  becomes 
a  favorite  instead  of  just  the  opposite  with  a  crowd  of  wholesome, 
jolly  fellows  makes  good  reading  for  boys  from  ten  to  sixteen." 
— American  Motherhood,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 

76 


"There  is  good  fun  in  the  book  and  much  of  valuable 
information  about  woodcraft.  It  is  a  healthful  and  inspiring 
story  for  all  boys.  Fathers  and  mothers  of  mollycoddles  will 
find  it  of  value  to  read  the  book." — 77?*?  Union,  Springfield,  Mass. 

"#  #  *  1^  story  deals  with  Billy's  awakening  and 
remaking  under  the  influence  of  his  many  interesting  experiences. 
It  is  a  pretty  sad  *  Billy '  who  makes  our  acquaintance  at  the 
beginning  of  the  tale,  and  we  sympathize  with  the  boys  who 
made  it  unpleasant  for  him.  But  it  is  a  very  different  4  Billy ' 
with  whom  the  reader  reluctantly  parts  company  at  the  close/' 
— Herald,  Duluth,  Minn. 

REAL  LETTERS  TO  REAL  BOYS.  Published  by 
Fleming  Revell  Co.,  New  York  City.  Price, 
50  cents. 

This  comprises  a  series  of  letters  written  to  a 
number  of  boys  on  many  subjects,  from  hobbies 
and  physical  training  to  character  making. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  FOR  BOYS.    Published  by  the 
author,  W.   Mermaid   Lane,   Chestnut  Hill, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.     Price,  50  cents,  postpaid. 
This  book  is  largely  a  manual  of  simple  exer- 
cises requiring  no  apparatus.    Illustrated  by  means 
of  many  photographs.    These  exercises  include 
movements  for  all  the  important  groups  of  mus- 
cles, and  the  photographs  show  which  muscles 
are  receiving  the  work.    The  book  also  contains 
remarks  concerning  smoking  and  other  common 
bad  habits,  and  a  number  of  useful  hints  concern- 
ing the  boy  at  school.    The  book  may  be  very 
useful  for  teachers,  for  parents  and  for  boys. 

77 


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